Helen Mirren, 80, isn’t buying into the fantasy of eternal youth.
In an interview with Elle published on Sunday, Mirren spoke about the tech industry’s obsession with living forever and why trying to hack aging misses the point.
“To me, the word longevity is being active, proactive, and productive over a long period of one’s life,” Mirren told Elle. “Living has to do with enjoying the physical elements of life; the beauty of nature; the excitement of professional success, if you’re lucky enough to have it; and family and kids.”
To her, longevity means “contributing in as many diverse ways as possible, for as long as possible,” she said.
At the end of the day, trying to beat aging becomes a distraction from living fully. Accepting life’s limits, Mirren said, is simply part of growing up.
“Life is finite. There is no fighting that — as much as people like to put themselves into ice, hoping that they might wake up in 50 years. It’s a dream and a fantasy. It’s very strange to me. I don’t call it growing old. I call it growing up. You constantly grow up through life. But the tech bros who cannot face the idea that they will get old and die just can’t deal with it. I think it’s so funny. They just haven’t grown up yet,” she said.
This isn’t the first time Mirren has spoken about her views on aging. In October, she told Allure that she loves “everything” about growing older.
“Fuck it, I’m alive and I’m working and I can drink a glass of wine and I can wear makeup and I can listen to music and I can watch a beautiful sunset and I can go to the theater and I can watch a movie and I can binge Netflix and I can live life. It’s a beautiful thing,” she said.
To stay healthy, Mirren has long championed a 12-minute military workout developed in the 1950s by the Royal Canadian Air Force.
She’s also said that it’s never too late to start moving, particularly for people in their 50s and 60s.
“It doesn’t have to be joining a gym. It can be small changes like taking a short walk or practicing yoga, which I still enjoy,” Mirren said.
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