Renowned British actor Helen Mirren may be in the running to achieve the coveted EGOT with a helping hand from Kendrick Lamar.
The Shazam! Fury of the Gods star spoke to Pete Hammond on The Actor’s Side as he held up a 28-page list of the awards she has won for her performances on stage, in film, and on TV and jokingly expressed dismay at not having reached EGOT status.
“I haven’t won every award. I haven’t yet won a Grammy, which is very annoying! But, unfortunately, I absolutely can’t sing, so I don’t know how I’m going to inveigle my way into a Grammy.”
Hammond responded by laying out an impromptu strategy for Mirren to obtain the EGOT by pointing out that Mirren was heavily featured in the video for the Kendrick Lamar song ‘Count Me Out.’ The progressive rapper is the first contemporary musician to receive the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Music. Mirren recalled that she did not know him before he cast her as his therapist in the clip. She shared her respect and admiration for Lamar, praising his creative gifts.
“He’s a genius. He is his own kind of incredibly…impressive creative force. He’s the real deal for sure. He is the kind of artist that I particularly love. A very uncompromising, very serious artist so I was very happy to be a part of that.”
Hammond told Mirren that when he saw the video and listened to her exchange with Lamar, he felt her performance would earn her EGOT status. Despite all of her achievements as an outstanding and versatile actor, Mirren remains wonderfully humble, explaining:
I wouldn’t really deserve it because it’s Kendrick’s work.
Whether or not she becomes an EGOT, the astonishing absence of entitlement in a star of her stature makes Mirren a class act. It’s no wonder she remains a sought-after star for a string of exciting film projects. Mirren is currently starring opposite Harrison Ford in 1923, the highly anticipated Yellowstone prequel. The busy actor will also star in The White Bird and Fast X. She will also play Golda Meir, the iconic former Prime Minister of Israel, in the eponymous film and lend her voice-over skills to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.