Helen Mirren Says ‘It’s So Sad Kurt Cobain Died When He Did Because He Never Saw GPS’

Helen Mirren has a relatively unique perspective on how she thinks Kurt Cobain would navigate the world if he hadn’t died in the 1990s. During an interview with Evening Standard’s Brave New World, the famed actress shared that she feels “sad” that Cobain is no longer alive because he never got the chance to experience GPS and its “magical” functionality.

“I always say, it’s so sad that Kurt Cobain died when he did, because he never saw GPS,” said Mirren. “GPS is the most wonderful thing, to watch my little blue spot walking down the street. I just find it completely magical and unbelievable.”

Of course, the comment came amid a broader point she was making about aging. “If you’re lucky, you get to be older,” she continued. “And then there you are. Oh my God, I’m 79! I never thought I’d be 79. And then you say, OK, well this is it. This is what 79 is. And it’s kind of OK. It’s not brilliant, but it was not that brilliant to be 25 either.”

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Mirren has referenced Cobain numerous times in the past when discussing the nature of aging. In 2014, she told Oprah Winfrey, “Look at Kurt Cobain — he hardly even saw a computer! The digital stuff that’s going on is so exciting. I’m just so curious about what happens next.”

A year later, she told Cosmopolitan, “I was thinking about Kurt Cobain the other day and he died without knowing the internet, and I’m totally blown away by that.” And, in 2016, she said to the Daily Mail, “If I’d died at 27, the age that Kurt Cobain [of rock band Nirvana] died in 1994, I’d never have even known there was an internet! Incredible things are happening all the time and I can’t wait to see what comes next.”