Helen Mirren has made a surprising confession about how she handles health concerns — and artificial intelligence apparently plays a big role.
The 81-year-old Oscar winner revealed that she tends to avoid doctors and sometimes turns to AI when she has questions about her health, making the admission while promoting her upcoming thriller A Talent for Murder at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Mirren was speaking with co-stars Alden Ehrenreich and Olivia Cooke when the conversation turned to hypochondria. Ehrenreich and Cooke described themselves as worriers when it comes to their health, while Mirren said she falls on the opposite end of the spectrum.
“I ought to be diagnosed with the ‘opposite of hypochondria,’” Mirren joked, adding that she tends to “completely ignore everything.”
When Ehrenreich asked whether that meant she avoided doctors, Mirren confirmed that she did.
“I avoid doctors,” she said, before joking that her approach was “working.”
The exchange was part of an Entertainment Weekly interview conducted during TIFF, where A Talent for Murder recently premiered.
Ehrenreich then joked that, because he worries so much about his health, he would happily have a doctor living inside his house.
Mirren had a distinctly 2026 answer.
“Well, you do. It’s called AI,” she replied.
When Ehrenreich teased her about giving artificial intelligence an endorsement, Mirren continued praising the technology, describing AI as “amazing” for asking questions about aches and other minor health concerns.
There is no indication Mirren was revealing a medical crisis, and she did not disclose any illness during the conversation. Her remarks appeared to be delivered humorously during a lighthearted discussion with her co-stars.
Still, the idea of using an AI chatbot in place of a medical professional comes with an important distinction.
Artificial-intelligence tools can be useful for explaining medical terminology or providing general health information, but research has found that their answers can become less reliable when questions involve complicated symptoms, diagnosis or treatment.
A 2025 review of 44 studies involving generative AI and consumer medical information found the technology could often provide helpful and understandable information. Researchers also warned about oversimplification, inaccurate answers to complex questions and users placing too much trust in human-sounding responses.
More recent research has raised similar concerns. One study evaluating hundreds of chatbot answers to real-world medical questions found that some responses contained potentially unsafe advice, underscoring why AI is better treated as an information tool than a replacement for a clinician.
Mirren’s latest comments are particularly interesting because she has had some fun at AI’s expense in the past.
While accepting the American Cinematheque Award in Beverly Hills in February 2024, Mirren began delivering the kind of polished, sentimental acceptance speech that Hollywood audiences have heard countless times.
Then came the punchline.
Mirren revealed that the remarks had been generated by AI and promptly tore up the pages before delivering her own speech. The American Cinematheque later highlighted the stunt itself.
But Mirren’s relationship with technology appears to be more fascination than fear.
She previously made headlines for an unusual observation about late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, saying she found it sad that the singer died in 1994 before getting the chance to experience GPS.
Mirren described watching the little location marker move across her phone as something she still finds “magical,” using the example as part of a broader reflection on growing older and witnessing dramatic technological changes during her lifetime.
Now AI appears to have joined that list.
Mirren remains busy professionally as well. In A Talent for Murder, she plays famed crime novelist Patricia Highsmith in a fictional story inspired by Joanna Murray-Smith’s stage play Switzerland. Ehrenreich plays a young publishing representative who visits the notoriously difficult author in hopes of convincing her to write another Tom Ripley novel.
The psychological thriller, directed by Anton Corbijn, premiered at TIFF and is scheduled to reach U.S. theaters on October 23.
For Mirren, however, perhaps the most unexpected revelation from the movie’s promotional tour has nothing to do with Hollywood.
At 81, the veteran actress is embracing one of today’s newest technologies — even when the question is what might be causing an ache or pain.