Helen Mirren is lamenting the fact that the late Kurt Cobain never got to experience the wonders of technology before he died – specifically, GPS.
“I always say, it’s so sad that Kurt Cobain died when he did, because he never saw GPS,” Mirren, 79, said during the Thursday, October 24 episode of The Evening Standard’s “Brave New World” podcast. “GPS is the most wonderful thing, to watch my little blue spot walking down the street. I just find it completely magical and unbelievable.”
The actress appeared to be using Cobain, who died at 27 by suicide in 1994, as shorthand for dying young as she shared her thoughts on ageing.
“If you’re lucky, you get to be older,” Mirren said on the podcast. “And then there you are. Oh my God, I’m 79! I never thought I’d be 79. And then you say, OK, well this is it. This is what 79 is. And it’s kind of OK. It’s not brilliant, but it was not that brilliant to be 25 either.”
It’s not the first time the White Bird actress has gotten candid about growing older.
“I say celebrate it, don’t fight it. You die young, or you get old, and I don’t want to die young,” she told HELLO! Magazine in October 2023. “I’m too interested in life. It’s wonderful, so celebrate that and enjoy it.”
Mirren added she wanted to celebrate the age she is rather than resisting the concept of getting older and attempting to cling to youth.
“I’ve always said I’m not growing old, I’m growing up I feel the age I am in the fullest possible sense, with all the curiosity, knowledge and fear I have about life,” she said. “I love being the age I am. Why would I want to be someone else? I don’t.”
Mirren continued: “We absolutely need to change the language around ageing. Part of life is getting older, so the vocabulary is incredibly important. Without a doubt, as you get older, your confidence grows.”
Meanwhile, in April this year, Kurt’s daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, marked the 30-year anniversary of her father’s death. Frances, now 32, was just 20 months old when she lost her dad.
Sharing a poignant post via Instagram, Frances reflected on the heartbreaking loss.
“30 years ago my dad’s life ended,” Frances wrote alongside a carousel of photos, including two of the Nirvana frontman holding her as a baby. “The 2nd & 3rd photo capture the last time we were together while he was still alive.”
Frances explained that her “ideas around loss have been in a continuous state of metamorphosing” over the last three decades since the musician’s death.
“The biggest lesson learned through grieving for almost as long as I’ve been conscious, is that it serves a purpose,” she wrote. “The duality of life & death, pain & joy, yin & yang, need to exist along side each other or none of this would have any meaning. It is the impermanent nature of human existence which throws us into the depths of our most authentic lives. As It turns out, there is no greater motivation for leaning into loving awareness than knowing everything ends.”
