I’m always on the lookout for mentions of Ayn Rand. Yesterday, Rand was mentioned in a Ted Loos interview of actress Helen Mirren in the New York Times. The interview, titled “Done With ‘Caligula,’ Ready to Play Martha,” surveyed much of Mirren’s career.
Though she appeared in Bob Guccione’s X-rated gore-fest “Caligula,” Mirren explained to Loos that she’s never been too keen on “arbitrary” sex scenes. In many instances, she’s refused to disrobe for the camera. But in some instances, she’s actually added an element of sexuality to her roles.
One case in point: Mirren’s appearance in the 1999 dramatization of Barbara Branden’s book, The Passion of Ayn Rand. Mirren tells Loos: “I had read in Ayn Rand’s biography of this amazing moment when she appears at this man’s door naked except for a fur coat. When I played her … I said, ‘I think we’ve got to see it.’ It was about character, because she was highly sexual.”
