Helen Mirren says it’s ‘so sad’ Kurt Cobain died young as he would have loved to have seen GPS
Mirren wishes Nirvana frontman could have been alive to see invention of satellite navigation
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Dame Helen Mirren has said it’s sad Kurt Cobain died young as he would have loved “wonderful” GPS.
Mirren made the claim in a new interview that saw her reflect on the process of ageing in the public eye as she admitted “it’s not brilliant”.
However, The Queen star, who is also an ambassador for charity Age UK, said that she was embracing the process for what it is.
“I’m 79. I never thought I’d be 79,” she told Evgeny Lebedev on the Brave New World podcast, which aired on Thursday (24 October).
“And then you say, okay, well, this is it. This is what 79 is, you know. And it’s kind of okay. It’s not brilliant. But it wasn’t that brilliant to be 25 either.
“So it’s not a question of seeking youth at all. It’s a question of living the life you have as fully and positively and enjoyably and confusingly and everything that it was when you were younger. It’s just called life.”
Responding to Lebedev’s comments on her “young spirit”, Miren quipped, “No, it’s not. My spirit is the age that I am. Maybe because I’m positive or I enjoy certain things.
“Or I’m fairly healthy, luckily so far, and I’m sure all that will go pear shaped quite soon. But, you know, this is the reality of being me. It’s not being young.”
Reflecting on her life and career, the Les Misérables and Phantom of the Opera star considered herself “lucky” to reach old age as she referred to the deaths of people who have died while in their youth.
It was here that Mirren said she wished Nirvana musician Cobain for example, could have seen the invention of satellite navigation.
“I always say it’s so sad that Kurt Cobain died when he did because he never saw GPS as it’s the most wonderful thing to watch my little blue spot walking down the street. I just find it completely magical and unbelievable,” she said.
The star had more sobering predictions for the future as she said she was grateful for having spent most of her life in a “world without technology”.
“Because from this point on, the human world will only know technology unless there’s some unbelievably catastrophic event and only a few people left on the planet,” she said.
“And everything, everything has been destroyed from this point on. For the rest of humanity, however long humanity survives, it will be a world of technology. And I’m so grateful that I was of a generation that knew the world before technology. And you know we will die out eventually.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments