You might think A-list actress Helen Mirren has been famous her whole life, but so it turns out, she didn’t find fame until she was in her 40s! But, it was kind of a blessing in disguise because it taught her a lot about life.

She shared some of her insight with Closer Weekly in an exclusive interview. “Be loyal and on time,” the 72-year-old told shared at the Toronto Film Festival premiere of her new film The Leisure Seeker. “And don’t be an a–hole!” Great advice, Helen.

Helen at the Tornoto Film Festival.

Even though Helen didn’t get her big break until later in life, she worked super hard to get where she is today. “From the start, I never stopped working, but I wanted [fame when] I was 22. I had a certain kind of success in Britain, but the kind of international success I got didn’t come until after 40,” she shared.

Today, Helen is fully embracing aging. “I don’t often wish that I’m younger because I think that it’s pretty cool to be older,” she said in a previous interview. “What I love the most about being older is that lovely I don’t give a f–kness kind of thing.” She added, “All you young things don’t be afraid of getting older because it’s f–king great, but tonight looking at this audience, I do wish I was about 40 years younger.”

Along with getting older, Helen is happy to see that women are becoming more and more present in showbiz. “When I first came into the film industry, you walked onto a film set and it was all men,” she once shared. “Really it was like walking into the locker room of an NFL team, it was a very, very male atmosphere, maybe one or two women on the set.”

“It’s so exciting to see that change, I salute those women who have made that change happen, the women who stood there 20 years ago and said ‘I can do that,'” The Queen star added. “That’s why I want to live another 40 years because I want to see what further changes are coming. It’s coming women and girls, enjoy it!”

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