Helen Mirren - The daring dame

Helen Mirren is tired. But not for reasons you might think.

The award-winning actress and Dame isn't tired because she turns 64 this month. With the entire world fixated on her growing talent and beauty in recent years, there's no indication this is set to change anytime soon.

She's also not tired from working relentlessly and without a break for the past two years – though this certainly hasn't helped. Helen Mirren is tired because of the demands of her latest role.

Between now and September, she plays the title in the classic tragedy Phèdre, a play written by Jean Racine in 1677, based on Greek myth, and currently showing at the National Theatre (NT). Phèdre centres on the Queen of Athens who, in her husband's absence, falls passionately in love with her much younger step-son. And when her husband returns, carnage ensues.

It's been six years since Mirren last trod the boards of a theatre. And though she freely admits it's a different beast from the films she's done more recently, it's not exactly a regular role either.

Described by Nicholas Hytner, the NT's artistic director, as 'one of the two or three greatest parts ever written for women', even Mirren, with her 45 years of experience, is finding it a stretch.

And for variety of reasons. Firstly, the play is written in poetry, which means 'substantial focus' is needed to perform it each night. Secondly, it runs for two hours non-stop, with Mirren either constantly on stage or waiting nearby. "I don't think I'll be seeing my dressing room at any performance," she admits.

"I'd never seen or read Phèdre, but I knew it was a great role and the kind of passionate, emotional thing that I felt I could assail."

But, mostly, it's down to the subject matter. Centred on love and its destructiveness, Phèdre is high drama and emotional frenzy from beginning to end, which means playing the role every night, and sometimes twice a day, is constantly challenging.

Not that Mirren can really complain though. It was her who came up with the idea originally. Approached by Hytner, who worked with her on The Madness of King George and Orpheus Descending at the Donmar theatre, he simply asked what role might tempt her back to the NT (she has performed there twice previously).

"And my brain always goes completely empty whenever anyone asks me that," she hoots. "I'd never seen Phèdre or read it actually, but I knew it was a great role and the kind of passionate, emotional thing that I felt I could assail, so I suggested it. And to my horror, he accepted! Then, to my delight, he said he would direct it, which really was fantastic news."

Since rehearsals in May, Mirren has been dedicated to the role in an all-consuming way. Working hard to get mentally and physically prepared, she says this involves watching her eating habits, going to the gym and just generally making sure she's fit to perform without distractions.

"It's very emotional, very intense," she admits, "so you've got to make sure you have a stamina and physical ability for it. You can't stroll into the theatre and imagine you can do it, it's the kind of role that you have to prepare all day for."

Being out of the theatre for so long was never Mirren's intention. She tries to get back there at least every four years. But if she kept to that schedule, it would have meant returning in 2007 shortly after winning her Academy Award® for Best Actress in The Queen.

"You can't stroll into the theatre and imagine you can do it, it's the kind of role that you have to prepare all day for."

It was a frantic time, one which, despite all her previous BAFTA, Golden Globe and Emmy awards, propelled her onto the world stage in a different kind of way, with offers flooding in from Hollywood.

Not that they were in short supply before. Prior to The Queen, she had Oscar nominations for her Best Supporting roles in 2001's Gosford Park and 1994's The Madness of King George. She also appeared in Raising Helen, The Clearing, Some Mother's Son and Calendar Girls.

Since her Oscar however, Mirren hasn't stopped. Starring alongside Russell Crowe in State of Play this year, she has four more movies due out shortly, including The Last Station with James McAvoy (Atonement), The Tempest and The Debt.

It's a far cry from local catholic school in Southend-on-Sea where she first cut her teeth on acting. Born the second of three children to an English mother and a father with Russian origins, Mirren went on to join the National Youth Theatre and later the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

These days, she's as famous for her honesty off the stage as her talent on it. Married to American director Taylor Hackford, her partner of 22 years, she's admitted in the past that she has 'no maternal instinct whatsoever'. In the 90s, she declined a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) but accepted a DBE in 2003. And in GQ magazine last year, she admitted taking cocaine at parties during the 80s and being date raped as a student.

Mirren has never held back about her own profession either. In the 70s, she criticised a number of theatres for their lavish production expenditure in a letter to The Guardian, saying it was 'destructive to the art'. These days, with lavish expenditure a distant memory, she acknowledges the importance of corporate sponsorships to theatre's survival.

"The arts are recognised to be an incredibly important part of culture," she says, "and sponsorship is an incredibly important part of that. It means that ticket prices don't have to become so incredibly expensive but that people who come can enjoy a fully realised production and not have to pay that much for it."

The NT also pioneered another way to reach more people, with their NT-live programme. This has seen Phèdre become the first theatre production to be broadcast into 70 cinemas across the country and 200 venues worldwide last month.

And it's no surprise that the world tuned in. With as many female fans as male, people of all ages continue to follow her life and career with interest – but mainly with awe. She's a woman who has climbed the ranks to become one of acting's greats, unafraid to tackle a demanding role and unwilling to be silenced along the way. Helen Mirren continues to do things her way.

Coutts & Co sponsors Phèdre at the National Theatre on London's South Bank. To book tickets, call 020 7452 3000 or click onto  www.nationaltheatre.org.uk  

By Barbara Walshe