'You die young or you get old and I don’t want to die young': Helen Mirren celebrates ageing

Dame Helen Mirren “celebrates” getting older.

The 78-year-old actress has never wanted to “fight” against the ageing process because she’d rather lead a long and full life and enjoy each day as it comes.

She told Britain’s HELLO! magazine: “I say celebrate it, don’t fight it.

“You die young, or you get old, and I don’t want to die young.

“I’m too interested in life. It’s wonderful, so celebrate that and enjoy it.”

The ‘Red’ actress insisted she has no desire to turn back time and she’s always happy to celebrate the age she is.

She said: “I’ve always said I’m not growing old, I’m growing up.

“I feel the age I am in the fullest possible sense, with all the curiosity, knowledge and fear I have about life.

“I love being the age I am. Why would I want to be someone else? I don’t.

“Actor John Gilbert said, ‘It’s all in the spine’ and it’s very true.

“I want you to do something right now, sit up and the energy immediately changes. It’s amazing.

“That feeling of, ‘This is my space, I’m taking it and filling it up’ makes an enormous difference.

“So as you travel through life, keep taking your space and don’t let anyone else take it. There’s no one else in the world like you.”

And Helen appreciates the “wonderful advantages” that come with growing older.

She said: “We absolutely need to change the language around ageing.

“Part of life is getting older, so the vocabulary is incredibly important.

“Without a doubt, as you get older, your confidence grows.

“One of the elements of getting older that makes you happy is you let go of those terrible, ridiculous insecurities you have when you’re young.

“My mum always said to me, ‘Darling, never worry about getting older. When you’re 20, the thought of being 40 is terrifying but when you get to 40, you won’t want to be 20 again because you’ve gained more wonderful advantages.’”