Though Helen Mirren emphatically calls herself a feminist now, she admits she's resisted the term in the past. Making the commencement speech at Tulane University in New Orleans, Mirren stated: "No matter what sex you are, or race, be a feminist. In every country and culture that I have visited, from Sweden to Uganda, from Singapore to Mali, it is clear that when women are given respect, and the ability and freedom to pursue their personal dreams and ambitions, life improves for everyone." "I didn’t define myself as a feminist until quite recently," he added. "But I had always lived like a feminist and believed in the obvious: that women were as capable and as energetic and as inspiring as men. But to join a movement called feminism seemed too didactic, too political."

Read more at www.independent.co.uk