Helen Mirren Says Her Age Has 'Always Been a Asset'

After more than five decades in Hollywood, Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren shared her secret to thriving at every age. She says the trick is just to be “at ease with the age that you are” and accept it. In this original social media video from Mirren’s on-camera AARP The Magazine interview, her answer is paired with stunning behind the scenes footage from her cover shoot in Butte, Montana, where she was filming the “Yellowstone” prequel, “1923.” The video was part of a multi-channel effort to amplify the cover story reporting, designed specifically to engage our audience on social media.
Our goal with this video was to create something to inspire AARP’s audience on Facebook with an age-positive message from Helen Mirren’s cover shoot. While we had created a longer video from Mirren’s interview for AARP’s digital channels, we felt that isolating this soundbite and incorporating some of her most dynamic b-roll shots would capture social media users in the first few seconds and compel them to react to, comment on or share the video. We also used a “sound-off strategy” by adding burned-in subtitles to the piece, so viewers could enjoy the video even without hearing it. AARP’s Facebook community regularly faces age discrimination and negative perceptions of aging from the world around them. Our reporting helps them to see themselves in an acclaimed celebrity as she reflects on embracing her age.

In terms of impact, this video surpassed our expectations and achieved extraordinary audience engagement. It has racked up more than 7.3 million views, earned nearly 294,000 reactions and driven 33,000 shares. Our audience connected with the message of viewing age as an asset, sharing their own reactions and experiences in more than 6,300 comments. Additionally, viewers engaged with each other in the comment threads, such as this post, which sparked 27 encouraging sub-comments: “How I wish Hollywood would learn from Helen Mirren. Part of her charm and beauty comes from her accepting the age she is… Good for her and she is a great role model - for Hollywood and all of us!”