dame vs. don

Helen Mirren’s Devastating Dismissal of Donald Trump: “Enormous Body, Small Head”

The Dame thinks Donald is a “dinosaur”—but she’s happy to see gender equality sneaking into the world of film.
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Left, by Isa Foltin/WireImage, right, by Brian Blanco, both from Getty Images.

Dame Helen Mirren is not impressed with you, Donald Trump. When asked Tuesday at a film luncheon to remark on the Republican presidential candidate’s misogyny toward women, the Oscar-winning actress quickly cut Trump down to size: he has an “enormous body” and a “small head,” Mirren told the crowd.

“I think it’s dinosaurs,” she said of the candidate’s recent behavior, which has included remarks about groping women and insulting the appearance of women who have accused him of assault. “I think they’re dying out . . . there are a few old dinosaurs left, and I think Mr. Trump is one of them.”

Mirren added that, at the end of the day, she’s a “great optimist” who believes in young women and progress. She also believes the film industry has gone through an “an amazing shift” when it comes to gender equality.

The luncheon was held in honor of Mirren’s latest film, Eye in the Sky, which tells the story of a colonel forced to deal with the issues surrounding drone warfare. Initially, Mirren’s role was intended for a man—until director Gavin Hood decided to rewrite it for the actress. As he joked: Wouldn’t we all rather have Helen in our movies than some actor?

“Men tend to write for men, I guess, and I think we have to start to think differently. . . . I frankly just didn’t see anyone else in the role, male or female, other than Helen,” Hood added.

“Ten years ago, I don’t think I would have been cast in this movie,” Mirren later said. “Gavin is a very special person, and I think he’s always thought like this. But he probably wouldn’t have been allowed to think like this 10 years ago by his investors in the film, or his distributors. So there’s been a real change.”

On-screen roles aside, the most “exciting” change for Mirren has been seeing women arrive behind the camera. “Cinematographers, boom operators, in the electrics department,” she says. “That is the real change. That’s huge.”

Let us all acknowledge that “huge” is now the Dame’s word, and no longer the property of a certain dinosaur.