Helen Mirren's Family Honors Her Late Stepson Rio Hackford in This Special Way (Exclusive)
- - Helen Mirren's Family Honors Her Late Stepson Rio Hackford in This Special Way (Exclusive)
Eric AnderssonAugust 21, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Helen Mirren's stepson Rio Hackford died from uveal melanoma in 2022 at age 51
In a new interview with PEOPLE, Mirren, who has been married to director Taylor Hackford for nearly 28 years, shares how the family keeps Rio's memory alive by visiting the ocean
The Oscar winner urges people to get regular checkups to screen for the rare cancer
Helen Mirren and her husband, director Taylor Hackford, suffered unspeakable loss in 2022 when Hackford’s son Rio Hackford died from uveal melanoma at age 51.
Now Mirren, 80, is sharing how the family keeps her stepson’s memory alive.
“He loved the ocean. He loved going into the ocean, the Pacific Ocean here in Los Angeles,” Mirren tells PEOPLE. “So we go to the ocean and the men in the family jump into the ocean to memorialize him.”
Mirren, who is also a stepmother to Hackford’s son Alex, 46, keeps Rio’s picture as her screen saver on her phone. “So I look at his face all the time, every day,” she adds.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage
Taylor Hackford, Helen Mirren, Rio Hackford and Alex Hackford on Jan. 3, 2013
“He had a lot of really great friends,” she says of the former actor and business owner. “So a lot of his friends are still in our lives.”
The Oscar winner has also made it her mission to urge people to get regular checkups.
John Sciulli/Getty
Rio Hackford and Helen Mirren on Jan. 30, 2016
“We didn't know about that condition. And it was only through that awful experience that we learned that this is a melanoma that can grow at the back of your eye without you having any consciousness of it,” she says. “So get your eyes checked twice a year, please.”
“Rio hadn't had his eyes checked for 10 years because his eyesight didn't change. So he thought, ‘Why do I need my eyes checked if my eyesight's perfectly fine?’ ” continues Mirren. “If he'd had his eyes checked, they would've caught it early.”
Maarten de Boer
After Rio — who appeared in movies and TV series like Pretty Woman, Swingers, True Detective and The Mandalorian — died on April 14, 2022, in Huntington Beach, Calif., Mirren and Taylor released a statement saying they were “heartbroken.”
"His life showed us how to live in generosity and community," they continued. "He shared his life's journey with so many who now mourn him, and at the same time, celebrate their fortune in knowing him."
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