Summary

• Helen Mirren's career is filled with iconic films spanning nearly every genre, proving her versatility as an actor. She has received numerous awards, solidifying her status as one of the most significant actors of her generation.
• Mirren's standout performances in films like Excalibur, Gosford Park, and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover showcase her ability to captivate audiences with her versatility and range.
• Mirren's historical dramas, such as The Madness of King George and The Queen, are among her best works, with critically acclaimed performances that highlight her ability to bring depth and nuance to her characters.

Helen Mirren has had an impressive (and ongoing) career full of iconic films, with several standing out among the rest as timeless art pieces. The actor made her screen debut in the late 1960s and has continued to captivate audiences ever since, with an array of films ranging in nearly every genre in the book. Mirren has claimed several awards, such as an Oscar, BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and more, proving herself as one of the most significant actors of her generation.

Like many great British actors, Mirren got her start on the stage. Her time with the Royal Shakespeare Company saw phenomenal roles in plays like The Revenger's Tragedy and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. In the mid-1960s, she earned roles in a spattering of films, but it was the 1969 film Age of Consent that really allowed her to stand out as an up-and-coming star. Since then, Mirren's career has taken her on a journey through the genres, with hit films spanning historical fiction, romance, drama, comedy, and science fiction. Overall, the actor's best works prove there is nothing she can't do.

10 Excalibur (1981)

Excalibur is the 1981 retelling of the legends of King Arthur and the famous Knights of the Round Table, outlining the iconic king's life starting all the way back to his early days as an underdog peasant. Mirren plays the sensual enchantress Morgan le Fay, a role that proves her ability to pull off a fantastic villain. Fantasy wasn't Mirren's primary genre, and she was a better fit in some of her other standout films, but her masterful performance contributed to the film's impressive 82% on Rotten Tomatoes.

9 Gosford Park (2001)

Gosford Park's star-studded cast should have made it difficult for any one performer to stand out, but this wasn't the case for Mirren. The actor played alongside names like Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Kristen Scott Thomas, and many, many more in the satirical whodunit, and despite the comedic backbone of the film, Mirren managed to give one of the more riveting performances of her career. Gosford Park's 87% critic score is watered down slightly by the 78% average score given by audiences, but it's still a notable piece in Mirren's filmography.

8 The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)

Among the more controversial of Mirren's films, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover followed the wife of a violent crime boss who begins an affair with a gentle bookkeeper while her husband isn't looking. Georgina, the aforementioned wife (played by Mirren), is briefly happy until her lover is murdered by her husband. This leads to a brutal slew of violence, sex, and murder. Mirren's performance was shocking, to say the least—extremely different from anything she had done before or since. The film, which holds an 86% critic score and 88% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, perfectly showcased Mirren's ability to act without saying a word.

7 O Lucky Man! (1973)

Another Mirren movie meant to make a statement, O Lucky Man! follows a coffee salesman as he navigates the financial ups and downs of capitalism. Miren played the central character's love interest, Patricia, in the film. She was quick-witted, quirky, and highly believable as the type of girl a man would fall head over heels for. Released in 1973, O Lucky Man! was another of Mirren's early successes, proving to the world that her acting had the ability to turn a film into gold. The film's 87% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes proves it's still enjoyable today.

6 Age Of Consent (1969)

Mirren's breakout film, Age of Consent follows a successful New York artist who returns home to Australia to rediscover what he loved about his art. While there, he meets the wild, free, and young Cora (Mirren), who is just emerging into womanhood. The concept of the Age of Consent has aged poorly in and of itself, but there is still something captivating about Mirren's youthful performance. Untamed, naive, and full of energy, the character drove home the film's exploration of freedom and art. This early Mirren film has a whopping 100% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, but the 49% audience score brings it down a few pegs.

5 Cal (1984)

Cal is a heartbreaking drama following a young member of the IRA in 1970s Northern Ireland. It's a tale as old as time, as the man winds up falling in love with the wife (Mirren) of a man whose death he is responsible for. As the heartbroken widow, Mirren's performance as a conflicted woman falling into a forbidden romance was what made this film so impactful. The role earned her a BAFTA nomination, and the film's 91% critic score proves that Cal's historical significance still hits home today.

4 The Madness Of King George (1994)

Mirren's historically inspired roles are among her very best, and The Madness of King George (1994) is a prime example of this. This film explores the mental decline of King George III, as well as the conflicted and deteriorating relationship with his family. Mirren plays the ever-devoted Queen Charlotte. Despite the constant stressors in their marriage, Charlotte is consistently kind and loving toward her husband, something that Mirren communicates with a nuanced performance. The Madness of King George has a 94% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of Mirren's highest-rated films.

3 Eye In The Sky (2015)

Though historical dramas fit Mirren remarkably well, she proved her ability to give an equally riveting performance in a more modern setting. The thriller, which has a 95% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, follows a British lieutenant general (Alan Rickman) and colonel (Mirren) as they struggle with the decision to order a drone missile strike on a group of terrorists in Kenya. Eye in the Sky balances the complicated questions of morality and war, with Mirren's urgent, desperate, and suspenseful performance pushing everything along.

2 The Long Good Friday (1980)

Diving into the gritty underworld of London organized crime, The Long Good Friday follows a despicable Cockney gangster crime boss, Harold Shand, as he stretches to take his empire a step further, but things quickly begin to fall apart as he begins to suspect that his business is being targetted through a series of bombings. Mirren plays his devoted girlfriend, Victoria, whose clever influence plays a significant role in Shand's decisions and processes. The film, which has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, is an unromanticized exploration of the consequences of corruption, represented fully in the fate of Mirren's character.

1 The Queen (2006)

Mirren has claimed many awards throughout her career, but her single Oscar win is due to her stunning performance in the 2006 film The Queen. The historical drama follows Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair following the tragic death of Princess Diana in the 1990s. Mirren took on the titular role, portraying the most recognizable monarch in modern history in a way that brings sympathy and comion to the historically controversial moment in the woman's history. The Queen's 97% Rotten Tomatoes score is consistent with the actor's other top films, but as the center of the spotlight, this film stands tall as Helen Mirren's very best.