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Dame Helen Mirren reached out to Queen Elizabeth II before portraying her in the 2006 movie The Queen, which she talks about in a recent interview. 
Mirren told the Radio Times that she decided to send a letter because the film would be dealing with a "profoundly painful part" of the monarch's life: namely, the untimely death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. 
Discussing the contents of the letter, Mirren recalled:  "I said, 'We are doing this film. We are investigating a very difficult time in your life. I hope it’s not too awful for you.' I can’t remember how I put it. I just said that in my research I found myself with a growing respect for her, and I just wanted to say that."
"She didn’t write back, of course, but her secretary did," Mirren added. "You know, 'Yours sincerely, da di da di da,' on behalf of the Queen. I was very relieved subsequently that I had written that letter."
Mirren would go on to win Best Actress at the Oscars for her performance in The Queen, which was written by Peter Morgan, who later created The Crown. Mirren also portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience, a stage play written by Morgan that ran in London's West End in 2013 and on Broadway in 2015.

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