The only actor Helen Mirren thought she could never match

Up until she was cast in that film, Mirren’s credits were largely confined to the stage, where she spent years performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In the modern day, Mirren is known as much for her theatrical performances as she is for her countless iconic film roles, but when The Mosquito Coast came out in 1986, your average movie-goers might not have recognised the now-legendary actor, particularly in contrast to the film’s leading man.

Harrison Ford was already a bonafide film star by the time the film was released, having starred in various groundbreaking films like Star Wars, American Graffiti, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, making him a household name across the United States. Inevitably, therefore, Mirren felt a degree of trepidation at co-starring alongside a seasoned veteran of film while her film career was still in its relative infancy.

In fact, the actor had readily admitted to this fact, once told Entertainment Tonight, “When I worked with Harrison, um, 30-something years ago, he was already a huge movie star; he’d already done Han Solo. It was like this, you know, he was there and I was like down there.”

Dame Mirren added, “Not that he ever treated me that way. Incidentally, he was always very gracious, but it was a very unequal sort of thing.”

The film itself was a box office flop and certainly did not match Ford’s previous successes in the form of films like Apocalypse Now or Blade Runner. Nevertheless, both Mirren and Ford gave commendable performances in The Mosquito Coast. Mirren never seemed out of place in the film; her acting prowess was clearly able to translate from the stage onto the screen.

Years later, the pair got the chance to work with each other once again, co-starring in the western television series 1923. As Mirren affirms, she felt a little more confident entering into that role than she had done all those years ago. “The minute I got back with Harrison,” she shared, “Was more on an equal partnership. I’ll never be on the same level as Harrison but, you know, at least I’d climbed up a little bit.” 

Mirren may be at risk of selling herself short in that regard, as her acting career certainly stands up to Ford’s filmography, even if she wasn’t in Star Wars. What’s more, their respective performances in 1923 certainly seem to suggest that both actors are still operating at an incredibly high level of quality, even in their old age. Either way, the confidence she gained between The Mosquito Coast and 1923 is telling of her prolific career in film and television, which has seen her rise to become one of the most recognisable actors in the world.

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