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Open in new tab Dame Helen Mirren is in such great shape that the body double for her new film is 39 years her junior.
Super-fit 30-year-old Fleur van Eeden has been hired by movie chiefs to stand in for the evergreen Oscar winner, 69. Fleur has been carrying out the duties on war thriller Eye in the Sky. Speaking from Cape Town where the film is being shot, stunt performer Fleur said: “It’s amazing to be playing her body double when I’m 40 years younger than her. But Helen looks fantastic. “No way does she look her age – she looks amazing. I want to look like that when I’m 69.”
Fleur also said of the star, who has been in Cape Town all month: “She is an amazing lady and thanked me so much for doubling her. She was awestruck by the beauty of where we were filming.” One of the scenes in which Fleur stood in for Dame Helen was an action sequence when she raced a 4×4 across rough terrain.
Fleur has been a body and stunt double for other Hollywood stars including Charlize Theron, 39. Eye in the Sky, due to be released next year, features Dame Helen as a colonel who leads a drone operation to capture a terrorist group.
The film, produced by Colin Firth, also co-stars Alan Rickman and Breaking Bad actor Aaron Paul. Three years ago Dame Helen won the title of Body of the Year in a poll by gym chain LA Fitness. Stunning photos of her in 2008 in a red bikini wowed fans. But she continues to play down her enviable proportions, insisting that the way she looks is all down to footwear and sucking in her tummy. The down-to-earth actress said in an interview: “Four-inch platform heels give you great height and make your legs look unbelievably long.
“I used to get them in stripper shops but now you can buy them everywhere. Unfortunately, that means everyone else had discovered the trick too. “I also hold my tummy in. It comes from being on stage. You are aware of your posture.” Dame Helen said she can wear the same clothes as she did 20 years ago because her weight hardly fluctuates. That’s one of the reasons why Fleur was called in as the body double for someone who is more than double her age.