Mirren, Mirren, on the wall — who is the busiest of them all?
Queen Helen of England. Oscars, Tonys, BAFTAs, SAGs, Oliviers, Golden Globes. And now, between performances of “The Audience,” there’s her new movie “Woman in Gold.” A true story about reclaiming Nazi stolen art.
Helen Mirren — blond hair perfect, beaded sheath perfect, skinny spike heels perfect — plopped onto a bench. “Can’t talk too much. I have to save my voice. The stage takes so much out of you. Theater performances can be tiring. I’m living like a nun. I never go out.”
So what’s next? Another Her Majesty Elizabeth role? Maybe the part of Prince William’s Duchess wife?
“No, no. I must stop playing queens. I’ve done a hundred films and other things, but that seems to be what everyone remembers me for. I’m about to do ‘Trumbo,’ a movie where I play Hedda Hopper, the old-time Hollywood gossip columnist.”
Handsome Max Irons, who is also in “Woman in Gold”: “Maybe soon they won’t just refer to me as Jeremy Irons’ son. This year I’m coming out in ‘The Devil’s Harvest’ and I’m shooting ‘Blood Over Water.’ All I care about now is, I’m working.
“Who knows how it happens that sometimes you suddenly catch on. I had an epiphany when I was 25 and good roles came to me. In this film, I’m German. I don’t even know German. I had to learn it because that’s what I speak throughout the movie.
“I’m also happy I have a place here. I feel like it makes me a real New Yorker.”
Last to arrive — Katie Holmes, who plays the wife of Ryan Reynolds, who plays the role of Helen’s lawyer. She wore a tight skinny beaded Zac Posen who, also tight and skinny but unbeaded, stood right alongside.
“This film’s about injustice, and that’s why it was so important for it to be made,” said Katie. “We all sometime or other experience injustices in our lives. I’m just grateful for everything I’ve been given. And I’m happy I’m with Liev Schreiber in an upcoming ‘Ray Donovan’ which airs early this summer.”
She looked gorgeous. “I’m also trying to be able to stay inside this dress,” laughed Katie. “I love to cook. And bake. I have to control all that.”
Harvey? He’s no dummy
Oh, please, with this Harvey Weinstein story. Don’t adore all his movies? OK. Me, either. And because he suffers from I-strain, Oscaritis and ratings-rash, detractors line up to not like him? Yeah? So?
His wife’s niftier than anyone. Also, Earth’s stunners slobber over him — not for a role in the hay but for a role in his movie. And he’d make a grab inside his own busy office? If he’s sexy, I don’t know. I know stupid he’s not.
Maybe it’s because it’s April Fools’ Day. So here’s advice: Ladies, list your obit, rent a funeral home and tell everyone: “I’m allergic to flowers. Can I have the cash instead?”
Shielded now from dark time
Everyone seemed in an up mood. Brooke Shields: “My kids are 9 and 12. And they’re good. My very slim leather sheath is by J. Mendel. And I’ve got real snug-fitting Spanx covering every inch of me beneath it.
“I finally got happy. Things for me were dark for a while. I lost my mom. I lost my way. Now I’ve gotten healthier. Maybe I just went through a rite of passage. Whatever, I think I won’t even have to wear these drawers underneath anymore.”
New York. A p.r. person at “Woman in Gold”: “Everywhere I go it’s the riffraff B-list. And I’ve come to the conclusion that everyone but me is stupid.” Then: “And everyone in this town keeps to himself. Barring census takers, there’d be no personal contact at all.”
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.