Shannen Findlay
Movies

Dame Helen Mirren gets candid about filming sex scenes in her latest role

While some actors and actresses have a tough time filming sex scenes in front of entire film crews, Dame Helen Mirren has admitted she isn’t bothered by it in the slightest. 

The 74-year-old Oscar winner admitted she “loved every minute of it,” to Foxtel Magazine while discussing her new show Catherine The Great. 

The HBO four-part series will be available for viewing on Sunday and features a particularly steamy session with not one, but two men. 

The show will delve into the lavish life of the famous Russian empress, who lived throughout the 18th century. 

“Catherine was a serial monogamist and one of her lines was, ‘I’m in love with love’,” Mirren explained.

“She was a woman who always wanted to have a man, but she didn’t want to relinquish power. She loved sex and she loves a sexual relationship, but when she wanted to get rid of them after, she’d give them palaces or something.

“She even gave one guy a country, making him King of Poland (Stanislaw August Poniatowski).

There is a particular rumour Mirren cannot stand, which alleges Catherine the Great - whose death was in 1796 - passed away while having sex with a horse.

“I hate that in history men can sleep with anyone they want but women are punished for their sexuality. There was always the intimation that Catherine was some sort of debauched, mad, sexual creature, but those rumours absolutely weren’t true,” she said. 

German-born Catherine became ruler of Russia after deposing her husband, Emperor Peter III - a violent, drunken bully.

Despite having a successful ruling, Catherine’s sex life was at the forefront of public and media gossip, which historians believe was a method used to detract from her powerful and influential leadership. 

Legend says Catherine the Great’s libido was so powerful that she was enticed to sleep with a horse and died while a leather harness holding the horse above her snapped and Catherine was crushed to death. 

While it is a widely debated myth, many assume it is whispers of misogynists attempting to tarnish the extraordinary achievements of the ruler. 

“It’s appalling the way history treats successful, powerful women. It has to pull them down. Her unbelievable achievements were very successful, obfuscated by history,” Mirren told The Sun.

“I have feminist friends who say, ‘Oh, what are you going to do about the horse?’, which of course is a complete lie, a classic way of belittling her.”

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Helen Mirren, dame helen mirren, actress, catherine the great, russia, movie, series