Helen Mirren says 'I'm not interested in being young, I’m interested in who I am' as she reveals her freeing approach to ageing

Dame Helen Mirren has simply the best attitude about ageing; she doesn't give it too much thought and has better aspirations than maintaining youth - and we love her for it.

Although often lauded for her elegant hairstyles and timeless fashion moments spanning her decades-long career, Helen Mirren is an icon both in acting ability and her fashion sense. While the actress likes to look good and share her beauty favourites, a firmly interesting fact about Helen Mirren is that she simply doesn't care about ageing, and we applaud her attitude to this often feared but normal aspect of life.

Now 79-years-old, Helen continues to challenge societal expectations of women when it comes to how and when they should work, how they should look, and offers damning opinions on a world that fetishises youth. Her interests lie in being healthy and remaining at the top or her professional game, not how many wrinkles she has or why she should defy the very natural process of ageing.

In a recent interview with The Standard, Helen spoke of the joy at approaching her octogenarian years, and why she's glad she didn't grow up in the current digital age. "I am older", she said, adding, "I’m sure I’ll go all pear-shaped soon. But I’m not interested in being young. I’m interested in being exactly who I am."

Continuing to lead the way in how women should feel about getting older, she continued, "I never thought I’d be 79. I’m not full of youth, but I am life full. I much prefer that phrase… And I feel so grateful that I lived in a world without technology for quite some time. I knew a world without technology in a deep and full sense… Human connection was a very different thing back then."

Continuing to demonstrate the perfect balance of wanting to look good but not caring about the age you are when you're doing it, Helen doesn't shun fashion but still loves to embrace the perfect look for her age. A particular fondness she has is watching young people rediscover trends from a bygone era.

She said, "I’m excited about the younger generation’s interest in the idea of recycling and repurposing clothing, I think that’s great," adding, "Thank God for the young! Just as something is about to disappear, they discover it again and make it their own. We’ve seen it with vinyl, with film over digital…"

As an ambassador for Age UK, Helen tackles not only the perceptions of ageing of those in the public spotlight, but of age discrimination against older populations in general. Speaking out about the charity's recent findings that one third of over 65s have been subjected to age-related negative behaviours, she's rightly branded this "upsetting and unfair", wanting to raise awareness of working towards acceptance that ageing happens to us all - and that's if we're lucky.