A look beyond the screen at the extraordinary life, contradictions and unconventional spirit of actress Despina Mirou
There are actresses who carefully construct a public image, and then there is Despina Mirou.
Trying to define Mirou in a few neat sentences is almost impossible. Actress, comedian, writer, painter, adventurer and unapologetic eccentric, she seems far more interested in experiencing life than explaining herself to anyone else.
She possesses the glamour of an old-school Hollywood star but the temperament of an artist who refuses to live according to anyone else’s script. Magnetic onstage and intensely private away from it, Mirou can be outgoing and talkative one moment and disappear completely the next.
Her mother may have described her best:
“You are a strange train.”
It wasn’t exactly an insult. It was an observation.
And the train has never followed an ordinary route.
THE GIRL WHO WAS DIFFERENT FROM THE BEGINNING
Born in Soufli, Greece, Mirou displayed an unusually creative personality long before acting became her profession.
By 15, she had already received two writing distinctions, one for the poem Like a Thursday and another for her short story The Wretched.
At only 13, she was so determined to receive an honorary distinction for her writing that she traveled by train with her teacher to Thessaloniki for the occasion.
Around the same age, another side of her personality was revealing itself.
Mirou painted an enormous portrait of Jim Morrison across the wall of the bedroom where she slept and wrote “DOORS” above it.
Most teenagers hang posters.
Despina apparently preferred turning the wall itself into one.
That mixture of creativity, obsession and rebellion would follow her into adulthood.
AN ACTRESS WHO DOESN’T BELIEVE IN PLAYING IT SAFE
Mirou’s career has allowed her to move between drama and comedy, two disciplines requiring very different instincts.
Her striking appearance immediately commands attention, but what makes her unusual as a performer is the contrast underneath it: a deep, distinctive voice, explosive energy, sharp humor and a willingness to make herself unpredictable.
Even her managers sometimes don’t know exactly what she is going to do until shortly before she does it.
She has been known to announce at virtually the last minute that she has decided to perform as Joan Crawford, leaving everyone around her scrambling to catch up.
That’s not disorganization in Mirou’s world.
It’s instinct.
She dislikes knowing too much beforehand because predictability bores her.
“I am always fascinated by the sudden — heavenly situations,” she explains. “They excite me. The sudden hides something unknown and charming. I get bored with something I know beforehand.”
That sentence probably explains more about Despina Mirou than any conventional biography ever could.
SHE WRITES JOKES ON HER HANDS
Inspiration doesn’t always arrive when a notebook is nearby.
Mirou has been known to write comedic lines directly on her hands when an idea strikes.
Her explanation is wonderfully simple:
“Inspiration is a gift. That’s why I write wherever I can when I have ideas.”
Her comedy can be provocative, physical, intellectual and occasionally outrageous. The same fearlessness appears in her dramatic performances, where she is willing to enter darker emotional territory.
Writing remains another important part of her creative identity, while painting gives her yet another outlet when time permits.
Mirou’s interests stretch considerably further.
She has a deep affection for classical music and an intense fascination with Greek philosophy and spiritual thought, particularly Orpheus, Plato, Socrates, Pythagoras, Proclus and Epictetus.
Perhaps even more unexpectedly, she has studied astronomy and earned top marks.
It’s an unusual combination: comedy, philosophy, acting, astronomy and art.
Then again, “usual” has never seemed particularly relevant to Mirou.
SHE DOESN’T DRIVE — BUT SHE’LL TAKE THE SPEEDBOAT
One of the funniest contradictions in Mirou’s life is her relationship with transportation.
She has never driven a car.
She does, however, have a speedboat license.
And while getting behind the wheel of a car apparently holds little appeal, she has pursued pilot lessons and helicopter flights.
She loves horseback riding, golf, adventure and extreme sports.
At the same time, there are environments she intensely dislikes. National highways and tunnels can make her uncomfortable. Crowded, noisy places aren’t exactly her idea of paradise either.
On film sets she has sometimes worn earplugs to escape excessive noise, and she may do the same in everyday crowded environments.
She is a woman who can crave adrenaline while simultaneously needing to shut the world out.
Contradictory?
Completely.
But that’s precisely what makes her interesting.
PRIVATE MEANS PRIVATE
For someone capable of commanding a room, Mirou maintains an extraordinary wall around her personal life.
She can be warm, expressive and endlessly conversational while revealing surprisingly little about what she considers truly private.
Romance, especially, belongs behind that wall.
Her relationships have reportedly included prominent figures in the entertainment world, but Mirou isn’t interested in building a career around names, gossip or revealing former partners.
She would rather leave people wondering.
That same unpredictability can extend into relationships. Mirou admits to being fascinated by spontaneity and freedom, and she can disappear as suddenly as she arrives.
The mystery isn’t a publicity strategy.
It appears to be part of her nature.
THE WOMAN OF EXTREMES
Mirou’s everyday habits can sound like details invented for a movie character.
She puts chili on practically everything she eats.
She loves adventure but dislikes certain kinds of travel.
She can perform fearlessly before an audience yet feel uncomfortable surrounded by crowds.
She can be intensely social yet fiercely secretive.
She loves ancient philosophers and outrageous comedy.
She studies the stars while working beneath Hollywood lights.
And beneath the eccentricity is something much more serious: faith.
Spirituality, philosophy and questions about existence aren’t accessories to Mirou’s personality. They form part of the internal world from which her creativity emerges.
Perhaps that’s why descriptions of her tend toward the mythical.
There is something distinctly Greek about the imagery surrounding her — an elf from the lands of Orpheus, a mysterious priestess, a creature who somehow wandered out of mythology and landed beneath Hollywood’s lights.
It’s extravagant imagery.
But Despina Mirou isn’t exactly a minimalist personality.
THE REAL DESPINA
Audiences often think they know actors because they’ve watched them on a screen.
Despina Mirou makes that assumption dangerous.
The glamorous woman arriving at an event is only one version of her.
Behind that image is the 13-year-old girl painting Jim Morrison across her bedroom wall.
The young writer traveling to Thessaloniki to collect an award.
The comedian scribbling a joke onto her hand before she forgets it.
The actress suddenly announcing that Joan Crawford is coming to life that night.
The astronomy student contemplating the universe.
The woman who won’t drive a car but will happily command a speedboat.
The adventurer.
The philosopher.
The intensely private woman who can somehow reveal everything onstage while revealing almost nothing about herself.
Hollywood has always loved people who can be easily packaged.
Despina Mirou isn’t one of them.
She’s contradictory, provocative, funny, glamorous, restless, intellectual, adventurous and occasionally impossible.
Her mother called her a strange train.
She was right.
The fascinating thing about Despina Mirou is that after all these years, nobody seems to know exactly where that train is going next.
And Despina wouldn’t have it any other way.