Helen Mirren Thanks Golden Globes for ‘Two Large Balls — Which As You Can Imagine, Really Helped Me in My Career’

Dame Helen Mirren was honored with the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award during “Golden Eve” on Thursday evening, a kickoff show to Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony.

Harrison Ford served as the presenter for the honor, a perfect selection due to their longstanding relationship. The pair first worked together in 1986’s “The Mosquito Coast.” They then reunited nearly 40 years later for Taylor Sheridan’s “1923.”

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During his introduction, Ford said that when thinking of Mirren, “the word that comes to mind is not Dame — it’s badass.”

“Helen Mirren can play a badass because she is one,” he continued. “A badass is raw, authentic, formidable, tough and fearless. That pretty much describes Helen the woman, and Helen the artist, an undeniable screen presence who brings to every scene a powerful commitment to narrative and character, and when she goes full badass, it’s awesome to watch.”

After a montage of her work played on screen, he continued. “She’s been the Queen of England on screen, but she is truly majestic in everything that she does. And I for one,” he said, backing away from the microphone and bowing down.

Mirren has won three Golden Globes during her illustrious career, but it was the first two she called out early on in her acceptance speech.

“This organization has held a little piece of my heart, as it was the very first organization in America to give me an award. As eccentric as that group was, they noticed a small piece called ‘Losing Chase’ that was way under the radar, and gave me a beautiful golden ball. Then they followed it with another, and I was the proud owner of two large balls, which, as you can imagine, really helped me in my career,” Mirren told the room, which erupted in laughter. “The DeMille Award was described to me as a career recognition, but I prefer to think of it as a life lived, a life survived, a life enjoyed, a life sweated, and a life carried on hopefully. And given that hope, I prefer to think of this as an ongoing reflection of my career, rather than a eulogy. I’m not writing my own eulogy. Although I have to say, if this were my memorial, looking out at this audience, I’m absolutely thrilled who showed up for me, and I am making a list of the no-shows.”

Throughout her speech, Mirren referred to many qualities she admired from the people she’d worked with over the years, including “the wit of Ryan Reynolds, the generosity of Will Smith, the intensity of [Anthony] Hopkins, the embrace of Vin Diesel, the might of Harrison Ford, the kindness of Bruce Willis and the greatness of [Al] Pacino.”

She also acknowledged the many lessons she’d learned — including “how to follow the great advice of the great Victor Mature, which is how to master speaking whilst holding your tummy in. Actually, come to think of it, that advice is no longer needed, is it really now, because you know, Spanx and Ozempic.”