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How Helen Mirren lives her best life

As told to Katie Arnold-Ratliff, Oprah.com
Helen Mirren says that in order to feel beautiful, "just put your shoulders back and chin up, and face the world with pride."
Helen Mirren says that in order to feel beautiful, "just put your shoulders back and chin up, and face the world with pride."
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Helen Mirren enjoys great coffee and a long walk on Saturday mornings
  • A stuffed leopard in a cage was the best gift Mirren ever received
  • Mirren: "I'm excellent at spending hours doing absolutely nothing"
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(Oprah.com) -- Now starring in Julie Taymor's adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest," the Oscar-winning dame shares her thoughts on sad books, holey socks, and the weirdest, most wonderful gift she's ever received.

Best Saturday morning

Great coffee -- that's very important -- a long walk, and a sunny outdoor market.

Best gift

Thirty years ago, for my birthday, my then boyfriend gave me a stuffed leopard in a cage. It was brilliant. I still have it.

Best vice

Being extremely lazy. I'm excellent at spending hours doing absolutely nothing.

Best thing most people don't know about me

I make clothes. They're always a bit of a disaster, but I like doing it. I'm particularly fond of buttons, and I adore darning socks.

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Best shortcut to feeling beautiful

It has nothing to do with clothing or makeup. Just put your shoulders back and chin up, and face the world with pride.

Best book I've read recently

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It's one of those utterly delightful books that are tragic yet somehow life-affirming.

Best life lesson from Shakespeare

He had such a deep understanding of the progress of life, the journey toward death -- you can't wriggle out of it. The end is inevitable. I find such beauty in accepting that.

Best escape

Riding in a London cab. I look out at the city and enjoy that someone else is in charge.

Best thing a man can say to his wife

"I love the way you look first thing in the morning, darling."

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