PARIS — Helen Mirren had a shaky start to her acting career, playing Cressida in Shakespeare’s “Troilus and Cresseda.”
“I was incredibly pleased and excited, because it was exactly where I wanted to be…a classical actress,” she explains in a video.
However, the reviews were less than stellar: “This was a wonderful production. The actress playing Cresseda…was the only flaw in an otherwise great production,” she reminisced. “Well, you can imagine, it was absolutely devastating. But instead of letting it destroy me, it drove me on.”
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Mirren worked to understand better how to act in Shakespeare, which she did for the next five years.
“So let me let you into a little secret about failure and success,” continued the proclaimed actor. “The thing that leads you somewhere is failure. It drives you on, educates you, gives you energy and anger. So I would advise you to go out there and fail as much as you possibly can. But take the risk. It’s worth it, as we’re worth it.”
The video is part of L’Oréal Paris’ “Worth It Résumé” campaign, which intends to redefine the meaning of “success,” starting Tuesday.
“It’s to push women entrepreneurship and women into professional life and the professional world,” said Delphine Viguier-Hovasse, global brand president of L’Oréal Paris.
The brand teamed with McCann Agency to introduce the new campaign that dovetails from L’Oréal Paris’ overriding aim to champion women’s worth, with its tag line “Because I’m Worth It.”
“We have several numbers that show women tend to try [harder] because they have more pressure [regarding failure] than men,” Viguier-Hovasse said.
Eighty-one percent of women feel more pressure not to fail than men, according to KPMG. The executive underlined that in most companies, women ask for a promotion when they have 85 percent of the skills to do a job, versus men, with just 40 percent.
“We want to address this issue,” Viguier-Hovasse said.
This campaign involves some of L’Oréal Paris brand ambassadors, also including Eva Longoria, Jane Fonda, Andie MacDowell, Aja Naomi King and Kate Winslet, sharing their own Worth It Résumé on LinkedIn.
“It’s fun and so empowering,” Viguier-Hovasse said.
L’Oréal Paris is also inviting women worldwide to share their setbacks that set you forward using #WorthItRésumé across social platforms.
Videos of the spokeswomen discussing their struggles and successes will go online globally, via L’Oréal Paris’ social platforms, such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, as well as some of the spokeswomen’s platforms.
“It’s very positive as a message,” Viguier-Hovasse said. “It is a list of transformed failures.”
The campaign is in line with L’Oréal Paris’ ethos of pushing women’s visibility.
The brand gives a Lights on Women award at the Cannes Film Festival. L’Oréal Paris yearly holds a fashion show during Paris Fashion Week, and it has partnered with Women’s Earth Alliance to promote women’s environmental entrepreneurship, for instance.
“Five years ago we began creating the Lessons of Worth, [when] all the spokes[people] were embracing a subject dear to their heart — whether it’s body positivity, mental health, visibility of some communities,” Viguier-Hovasse said. “We have been reinventing these Lessons of Worth through the Worth It Résumé.”
