SAVANNAH, Ga. — Oscar winner Helen Mirren walked the red carpet in Savannah on Saturday to accept the Legend of Entertainment Award as the SCAD Savannah Film Festival opened its 2026 run.
The award came during a gala showing of A Talent for Murder. Her Oscar came for The Queen, the 2006 drama in which she played Elizabeth II, and she has also collected Emmys for Prime Suspect and Elizabeth I, a Tony for The Audience on Broadway and this year’s Cecil B. DeMille Award. She was named a Dame in 2003.
The actress said her first reaction to the news of the award was excitement about coming back to a city she loves. She said she had visited only once before, around the late 1980s. She also mentioned knowing Stratton Leopold, who owns Leopold’s Ice Cream, and said she hoped to stop in for a scoop.
Speaking to students and young filmmakers, Mirren said talent is only part of a career, with luck and the way people treat their collaborators counting too. She said she is wary of telling young people to simply chase a dream, and urged them to work hard and, if no one hires them, to create their own projects, from plays to theater companies.
The opening day also honored Meghann Fahy, who picked up the festival’s Spotlight in Television Award. Fahy, nominated twice for Emmys, drew wide praise for The White Lotus and stars with Rose Byrne in The Good Daughter, set to premiere Nov. 12.
Run by the Savannah College of Art and Design, the event is the largest university-run film festival in the country. Screenings and events continue through Saturday, Oct. 31.
Section: More Savannah GA events news
Savannah events business profiles
Filed under: Savannah GA Events News
