John Boorman said he cast her opposite Nicol Williamson in Excalibur (1981), against both of their protests, because he felt their dislike of each other made them perfect as rivals Morgana and Merlin.
According to an article in People Weekly (November 3, 1980) her tattoo is an American Indian symbol meaning "equal but opposite".
According to the April 2007 issue of Architectural Digest, She and her husband have sold their estate in New Orleans, which still remains her favorite American city.
At the premiere of The Queen (2006) at the Venice Film Festival, her performance received a 5 minute standing ovation.
Became an Associate Member of RADA.
Became the third person, after Sigourney Weaver and Joan Plowright, to win two Golden Globes for acting in the same year. The characters she played were both Queens of England, Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Elizabeth II.
Before marrying director Taylor Hackford in 1997, she had lived with him in Los Angeles since 1986.
Daughter of Vasily Mironoff and Kathleen Rogers.
Despite her Russian birth name and ancestry, she does not speak Russian, but is fluent in French.
Has a tattoo of a star on her left hand, acquired at a Native American reservation in Minnesota.
Her grandfather Piotr Vasilievich Mironoff was a Tsarist (White Russian) aristocrat who was in London negotiating an arms deal during World War I when the 1917 Russian Revolution stranded him there. His wife and son (Helen's father) joined him in London.
Her great-great-great-great-grandfather was field-marshal Kamensky, one of the Russian heroes of the Napoleonic wars.
Is one of eight actresses to have won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics' Choice Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award. The others in chronological order are Julia Roberts for Erin Brockovich (2000), Renée Zellweger for Cold Mountain (2003), Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line (2005), Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006), Kate Winslet for The Reader (2008), Mo'Nique for Precious (2009), and Natalie Portman for Black Swan (2010).
Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 2004.
Met husband-to-be Taylor Hackford when he directed her in White Nights (1985). When the couple married in the Scottish Highlands, Hackford was dressed in a traditional Scottish tartan kilt.
Nominated for Best Actress, Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for her performance in "Mourning Becomes Electra" at the Royal National Theatre: Lyttelton Stage. [2004]
Nominated for Best Actress, Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for her performance of "Orpheus Descending" at the Donmar Warehouse. [2001]
Nominated for Best Actress, Tony Award for "A Month in the Country" by Ivan Turgenev. [1995]
Nominated for Best Actress, Tony Award for "Dance of Death" by August Strindberg. [2002]
Nominated for the 2002 Tony Award (New York City) for Actress in a Drama for "Dance of Death".