Dame Helen Mirren Strives To Keep Learning From Fellow Actors

Dame Helen Mirren is basically royalty now, or at least as close as possible. Having played two queens in her career, the 68-year-old actress will be awarded a fellowship from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts from none other than Prince William at the BAFTA Awards on Feb. 16. That must mean she’s done something right, Mirren reckons.

Despite her long and storied career, Helen Mirren continues to get starstruck by her favorite actors.

"I think it feels pretty amazing, actually, because I don't think he'd do it if the royal family felt I had messed up," Mirren, who played Elizabeth II in a 2006 film by Stephen Frears, told The Hollywood Reporter. "So I hope it's a sign they don't think I messed up. But I don't know, and I will never know for sure."

Dame Helen Mirren has long ago made a name for herself as both a critically acclaimed actress and a commercial success, with films ranging from The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover and Gosford Park to Red, Monsters University and Calendar Girls. Still, even at this point in her career, she cofesses to being star-struck by a certain caliber of actors.

Mirren aims to keep learning from her colleagues and co-stars.

"I find myself working with Nic Cage, Harrison Ford - I'm terribly starstruck and impressed with myself that I am even in the same space as they are," Mirren confesses to THR, noting that "they are sort of extraordinary, those huge American movie stars; they are a thing apart, really. It's hard to keep your feet on the ground and think it's all right."

Mirren says she deals with this by being constantly open to learning from colleagues and growing as an actress: "And the great thing is you can always learn. No matter how much experience you have in this area, 'Oh I didn't know you could do it like that' - there is always something like that."

Miren isn’t the only guest of honor at the BAFTA ceremony – her The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover director Peter Greenaway is set to receive a BAFTA honor for his outstanding contribution to British cinema.

Mirren will be honored alongside the respected director Peter Greenaway.