United Kingdom, Feb. 24 -- Dame Helen Mirren found her red carpet confidence in a stripper shop.

Revealing that towering platform heels were her "secret weapon" during her early years in Hollywood, the actress, 80, spoke about her long-standing love of pole-dancing heels in an interview with British Vogue from the front row of Erdem's autumn 2026 show during London Fashion Week.

Reflecting on attending awards ceremonies in Los Angeles in her earlier career, she said: "In my early days in LA, you know, the awards things, and there would be all these actresses like Nicole Kidman and these beautiful, tall, thin, gorgeous actresses, and I'd be this dumpy little five-foot-four thing amongst them."

At the time, she said, high platforms were ...