Helen Mirren’s Fast and Furious ambition

Helen Mirren would do just about anything to star in Fast and Furious 8.

The revered Oscar-winning actress may be turning 70 in July, but the versatile star has revealed her “great ambition” in life is to join the fast car franchise – specifically playing “the baddie”.

The Dame made her rather surprising revelation during an interview with Yahoo News, in which she heaped praise on the films’ leading man, Vin Diesel, whom she called “brilliant”.

“My great ambition is to be in a Fast and Furious movie. I so want to be a mad driver in a Fast and Furious movie,” she declared. “My claim to fame is I always do my own driving – I was on Top Gear, and I did [my lap] in a very good time.

“I keep putting it out there, and they never ask me. I’ll be in Fast and Furious 8. I have to say Vin Diesel is brilliant. I love Vin Diesel. He’s a great guy, smart – I love him. It’s partly because of him I’d like to be in one, but also the driving.”

While she has played such illustrious and prominent roles as Queen Elizabeth II in her almost 50-year career, Helen admitted that despite her age, she’s more drawn to action roles these days. In fact she cites 2010’s RED and its 2013 sequel RED 2 as some of her favourites, saying she’d very much love to be involved in a third movie.

“I’d also love to do another RED-type movie, because those are such fun to do,” she said of the films, in which she starred as formerly retired assassin Victoria who teams up with a group of elite operatives played by the likes of Bruce Willis, Anthony Hopkins and John Malkovich.