Academy Award-winning pomegranate farmer

Apr 04, 2016

Helen Mirren grows pomegranates outside of acting

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

When she’s not busy collecting awards for her various roles on TV, film and Broadway, Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren plays the role of pomegranate farmer on her farm in Salento, Italy.

“Apart from acting, my other job is that of a pomegranate farmer,” she said in an interview with OK! Magazine. “My husband (Taylor Hackford) and I have planted over 400 pomegranate trees and we're producing juice for the market. The juice is delicious.”

Mirren’s ultimate goal is to start selling pomegranate juice in Italy, and then take the business as far as she can.

Helen Mirren

"Our little company is still in the early stages but we want to sell our juice in Italy and abroad,” she told OK!. “I love the people of Salento, I love Italy and I love the climate there. The first time I saw the full moon rising from the sea and shining on my pomegranates, I burst into tears.”

Just like with some roles she’s had to prepare for, farming has presented Mirren with its own challenges.

"At the beginning it was very complicated and I was getting discouraged,” she said.

But Mirren said she had an ‘a-ha’ moment when she saw a man riding a bicycle and realized she was where she belonged.

According to various sources, countries including India, Afghanistan and Iran rank among the global leaders in pomegranate production.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

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Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.