Celebrities like Demi Moore, Matt Damon, and Julia Roberts are some of the few stars who’ve worn swimwear bracing themselves from social media’s criticism. Luckily, they’ve not only received mean responses but also some supportive opinions that paint them in a good light.
People like Helen Mirren, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Goldie Hawn, Eva Longoria, Susan Lucci, and Demi Moore, have faced social media’s wrath for daring to wear their swimwear in public. Pictures of the stars dressed for the beach had netizens divided in their opinions.
Helen Mirren’s Bikini Shot Was Taken by the Paparazzi
Dame Helen Mirren went on the record to multiple outlets to explain the photo of her posing in a red bikini with a white trim that went viral in 2008. That year, Mirren and her husband, Taylor Hackford, were on vacation on an Italian beach.
The star said she and her director husband braved brought terrains going over cacti just to get to a swimming spot where nobody else was around, just the way Hackford liked it. The actress initially took a photo of her husband and, in turn, struck a pose for him. However, the moment she sucked her stomach in, she saw a flash in the distant hills and immediately dropped down “spread-eagle” on the rocks to get out of the shot of a perceived paparazzo!
When Hackford turned around, the photographer had hidden behind the cacti, leading the director to call his wife “paranoid.” Three days later, a photo of a 63-year-old Mirren looking into the distance hand held over her brow in a red bikini, was uploaded by a tabloid and went viral!
Speaking about the incident a few years later on season seven of “Ellen,” the dame said the shot was “pure luck.” She shared, “I look at that picture and say, God, I wish I look like that. But I don’t.”
The actress explained that a week before the image was taken, she had been on a public beach with hundreds of people around in France, and no one bothered to take her picture! The host of the show, Ellen DeGeneres, joked about how we knew why Mirren was in such great shape from “scaling cactuses and mountains.”
Years later, people are still inspired and thrilled by the image. When the snap reappeared and Mirren was asked about it on television in 2019, the star, once again, clarified how she had posed for her husband:
“I tried to suck my cheeks in. I tried to look… good.”
In the comments of a Daily Mail post, readers expressed their appreciation for the stolen moment. “I can only hope that I look that good at 74!!” one gushed. “I would love to look that good now – let alone when I’m in my 70s!” another seconded. It should be noted that she was in her mid-sixties when the photograph was taken, which is by no means unimpressive.
“WOW, she looks amazing. I could only wish to look that good at that age,” one said. “She looks fantastic. If I sucked my stomach in, I still wouldn’t look that good in a bikini, and I’m 20 years younger than her,” an admirer pointed out. A second agreed:
“I’m at a loss for words. She looks gorgeous!”
The Helen Mirren effect: Bikini sales soar with women over 50. http://t.co/r4FtCv8Tvk pic.twitter.com/NIUGjzmxz2
— Independent Style (@Indo_Style_) July 13, 2015
“Now this is what aging gracefully means….. ” a reader ruminated, “Natural with no plastic bits. She knows her age and appreciates it and doesn’t hide from it. Good for her!” “She’s fantastic. And to all the other fake boob & booty gals out there, take a page from Helen’s book!” someone else added. “Finally, someone I can complement who actually deserves it!” a commenter wrote.
The Oscar winner has turned down all opportunities to monetize the viral photo. She said in 2014, on the dawn of her 68th birthday, “The truth is I don’t really look that good, it was just a flattering picture,” noting:
“I am beyond the bikini-wearing age, really. I wouldn’t normally wear one. I look like a woman in her 60s. I’ve always looked awful in a bikini, even when I was young.”
Likewise, on her reputation for being “sexy,” she conceded on another occasion, saying, “I think it’s probably going to follow me to my grave.” However, Helen Mirren is likely to keep making headlines with her view on rules. “It’s good to break your own rules on a regular basis,” she says.
