Helen Mirren's rape ordeal

01-09-2008 12:01

Dame Helen Mirren was date-raped twice when she was younger, but never reported the crimes.The 63-year-old actress - who won an Oscar for her performance in 'The Queen' - revealed she was too scared to say no and forced to have sex.Helen said: "I was date-raped, yes. A couple of times. Not with excessive violence, but rather being locked in a room and made to have sex against my will. If a woman voluntarily ends up in a man's bedroom with her clothes off? it's such a tricky area, isn't it? Especially if there is no violence. I think she has the right to say no at the last second. But I don't think she can have that man in court under those circumstances. "I guess it is one of the many subtle parts of the men/women relationship that has to be negotiated and worked out between them."I was polite and didn't have the courage to say that to men who wouldn't accept 'no' for an answer.I was very innocent when I went to college in London. I went to a convent school and had never spent a night away from home or gone to parties or any of that.Helen, who is married to American director Taylor Hackford, also revealed she used to regularly take the class A drug cocaine when she was in her 30s.