Dame Helen Mirren is glad she didn't find love until later on in life.

The 68-year-old actress is happy she didn't meet her husband Taylor Hackford until she was in her 40s because she doesn't think they'd have got together if they'd met when they were younger.

Speaking to Oprah Winfrey in the new issue of O magazine, she said: ''I used to say to Taylor, 'I wish we'd met earlier on. We've missed so much time together. And he'd say, 'We'd never be together now if we met earlier.'

''And I think he's actually right because we were both on a trajectory of work and ambition and, of course, to a certain extent, wanting to resolve ourselves as ourselves.''

The 'RED' star admits her relationship with the American director, whom she married in 1997, encouraged her to look at life differently and realise what is important to her.

She explained: ''Before I met Taylor, all my relationships took second place to my work. If I had to go to Africa, it was 'Bye bye, I'm off to Africa.' And then he came into my life, and I started thinking, 'Maybe it's time to have a different attitude - and to say that my relationship is at least as important as my work. To give it the time.''