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“I’m just like everybody else l’m always on a diet!” For instance, she’s a big fan of reality TV: “America’s Next Top Model, I love it! I love Tfyra Banks. It’s won derful to watch the appalling nature of females. We are so awful!” For Mirren, no topic of conversation is off-limits. Be tween sips of veddy British milky tea and handfuls of oatmeal raisin cookies, she let’s it rip. On her ex-boyfriend, actor Liam Neeson: “He taught me a lot of things Northern Ireland politics, how to make a very good colcannon, an Irish potato and cab bage stew. And he taught me about love.” On cosmetic surgery: “I absolutely believe in it! Why feel miserable if you can change something? But breast implants are weird to me. They seem a bit like hang ing a pah 1 of oranges around your neck.” [We didn’t m I / HELEN OFJO^^ After more than 40 years in the business, Mirren has kicked into high gear, with four new movies in the works. point why she was ready to seal the deal after a 13-year courtship. But Hackford is more forthcoming. “I wasn’t proud that I had two failed marriages,” he says. “But when we got together, we were both in our 40s. We had had lives and partners before that We realized this was going to last, so we figured, what the hell!” He’s set to direct her early next year in Love Ranch, Cover clothing: dress by Saks Fifth Avenue, robe by Paul Smith Vintage, shoes by Claudia Guti; inside clothing: sweater by Saks Fifth Avenue, tights by Hue, boots by Guess; styling: Pauline Leonard, Cloutier dare ask Dame Mirren if —l she’s had any work done.] I On gay marriage: “I think I gays absolutely should have / the right For the same rea- I son Taylor [director Hack- J ford] and I got married —to / be able to say, by law, ‘This person is important to me.’ ” Mirren and Hackford have one of the most successful and scandal-free relationships in Hollyw’ood. They finally tied the knot in 1997, after being together since 1984. She was 52 when they wed and hadn’t seen herself as the marrying kind. “I used to say, ‘I have nothing Wa against marriage, but to me it’s like turnips. W They’re just not for me.’ And now I love being married. I love saying, ‘l’m going to see my husband tonight’ ” Mirren can’t quite pin- inspired by true events, in which she’ll play the madam of the first legalized brothel in Nevada. “It’s a great story,” Mirren says. “Legalized prostitution is not such a bad idea,” she adds. “It gets girls off the street away from pimps and drugs.” Insisting that she’s “a working actress, not a movie star,” Mirren chalks up her Oscar win to luck. The win ning night, she says, was all a blur except for a star struck moment of her own. “I remember Leonardo Di- Caprio kissing my hand,” she says. “It was so sweet. That was the highlight of the whole evening.” v The real secrets behind National Treasury 2 A QUIZ: Which item does not belong in the same category? A. Goats. B. Alligators. C Paparazzi. When it came to the filming of National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the answer is B. An alligator on the Washington, D.C, set was just an Internet rumor. There were, however, unwelcome intrusions by the other two types of aggressive beasts. During a week of shooting at Mount Rushmore, a dozen 300-pound Rocky Mountain goats invaded the set 'They're not nice, and if you get close to their babies, they can get real mean real quick,' says costume designer Judianna Makovsky, who almost had a head-on collision with one And swarms of paparazzi nearly attacked the cast in London's Primrose Hill district. Ironically, that location was meant to stand in for D.C's staid Georgetown district across the pond. Additional settings in England also doubled for settings in the U.S. capital. Surrey’s Richmond Theatre and a set at Pinewood Studios were used to represent Ford's Theatre where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. (During the shooting in South Dakota, co-star Helen Mirren, who won an Oscar for her lead role in The Queen, was invited to meet the real Queen Elizabeth II but declined because of logistical problems.) Mirren and Leo? Why not? These days, Mirren is often called “sexy and 60.” The men in her life agree. “Her sensuality comes from her honesty,” says her husband. “She’s not hiding behind makeup or a baby doll hairdo. She’s the real thing.” Adds Treasure star Cage: “I’ve had a crush on her since she was Morgana in [the 1981 movie] Excalibur. She looked sensational in chain mail. Oh yeah, that was good stuff!” But Mirren claims not to give her sex appeal a sec ond thought. “Sometimes I feel great and sometimes I feel really crappy,” she says. “I’m just like every body else l’m always on a diet!” Then Mirren laughs and mischievously breaks off a chunk of a buttery cookie. “Can’t you tell?” ML 4,: *rf\v W i 'fife V ACTION MAMA Mirren, center, plays Nicolas Cage’s mother in the movie, which opens on Dec. 21. The frantic filming, which zoomed from Los Angeles to D.C to North Dakota and on to London and Paris, brought quite a few challenges. "We were getting new pages all the time,' says a crew member. "They were tweaking rewrites and adding new characters.' In Washington, filming that was being done in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House, had to be put on hold for nearly 90 minutes when an impromptu press conference was arranged in the Rose Garden. While Secret Service agents wandered around brandishing their weapons because of security concerns, ail the cast and crew including stars Nicolas Cage and Jon Voight were forced to stand by, waiting. In the end, the hectic activity helped boost the cost to a reported $l3O million, compared with the first movie's estimated SIOO million. Instead of leaving the production team exhausted, however, the whirlwind shoot was exhilarating, says producer Jerry Bruckheimer. 'Even on a set, monotony can set in and work becomes a grind. You're on a soundstage every day, [and] you can't wait to leave,’ he told USA WEEKEND. 'Since we constantly changed locations, there was always an adventure. It helped the energy.' 13 — Jeffrey Ressner 9 USA WEEKEND • Dec 7-9, 2007