Helen Mirren Contemplating Getting A ‘Whole Sleeve’ Snake Tattoo

Helen Mirren might be crossing the 70-year-old threshold, but the actress is apparently still very young at heart. During a recent radio interview promoting her new movie Eye in the Sky, Helen Mirren told the interviewers she would like to add to the tattoos that adorn her body. The British star claimed she’s currently got her eye on a full sleeve of snakes that would run up her arm. While the actress may not strike many as someone who loves body art, she’s had a tattoo on her hand since the 1970s.

Reports Dame Helen Mirren might get a tattoo sleeve ? #HelenMirren pic.twitter.com/AFSY0ODaHV

— Craig K ?? (@OfficialCraigK) April 12, 2016

Helen Mirren has had that hand tattoo, which is interlocking V’s, since she visited a Native American reservation, according to Stuff. It was a question about whether or not Mirren regrets getting the tats that led her to claim she wants to get quite a few more, including the full sleeve tattoo. When she was pressed on what kind of design she might like to get for this rather large, rather intricate design, the silver-haired beauty responded she wanted a reptile motif.

“Some sort of curving pattern running up my arm. Maybe a snake – I quite like snakes.”

While some who only follow Helen Mirren from a distance might be shocked she would be shopping for such a tattoo, the actress is well known for making decisions that performers quite a bit younger than her wouldn’t have the heart to do. Mirren showed off her rather impressive twerking skills during an appearance at Harvard University back in 2014, and a few years before that she stunned nearly all of the U.K. and Hollywood when she dyed her hair pink.

Helen Mirren is usually considered a role model for a mature generation of actresses precisely because she doesn’t seem to care all that much about her public perception. Mirren is also famously annoyed whenever anyone tries to identify her by her physical appearance alone. Instead, Mirren is much happier when she’s being talked about for her work in various movies. Over the course of her career, she has indeed managed to stay away from typecasting, appearing in a huge variety of different genres and displaying the ability to take on all kinds of different roles.

As Yahoo News reports, this time around Helen Mirren is taking on the role of a military officer. Dame Helen plays Colonel Katherine Powell in Eye in the Sky, who is in charge of using unmanned drones to find and take out terrorists in the heart of Kenya. At first, the mission, while top secret, doesn’t appear to be out of the ordinary when it comes to drone missions. Mirren’s character ends up gathering intelligence both from those drones and on the ground that leads Mirren to realize the terrorists she’s surveilling are planning a massive suicide attack.

Helen Mirren’s newest role is definitely one that people are going to feel is quite reminiscent of stories we’ve seen in real life over the last few years. The creators of Eye in the Sky have been careful to make it clear this isn’t based on a true story but rather based on the kinds of things we hear about from the military in the age of drones. It’s a safe bet the producers of the film are plenty happy Mirren held off on getting that massive tattoo (assuming she’s serious) until after shooting for Eye in the Sky was finished. It would be a hard sell, even with someone like Helen Mirren in the role, to convince people a British officer in her situation would be sporting full sleeve tattoos.

[Photo by KGC-161/STAR MAX/IPx/AP Images]