Helen Mirren has spoken out about her decision to play Golda Meir, Israel’s former prime minister, in the 2023 biopic Golda, amid ‘Jewface’ accusations.
The veteran English actress, 78, faced backlash for taking on the role alongside Liev Schreiber and Camille Cottin because she is not Jewish.
mirren said The Daily Telegraph Saturday, although she understands both points of view, is proud of her work in the biographical drama.
‘I think we have to keep the debate going and there are arguments on both sides. I have been a Mossad agent (in the 2010 film The Debt). There’s nothing more Jewish than that!’ she said.
Mirren looks virtually unrecognizable as the late Israeli prime minister in the film, sporting a gray wig and a prosthetic nose to get into character.
Helen Mirren (pictured) has spoken out about her decision to play Golda Meir, Israel’s former prime minister, in the 2023 biopic Golda, amid ‘Jewface’ allegations.
“I felt like her, honestly. You are exposing yourself to deep criticism. You could screw it up terribly,’ Helen said.
He added that he remembers when Meir served as prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974 and drew on his first-hand experience to ensure his performance was authentic.
‘It was the first time a woman led a country. And he was absolutely thrilled, impressed. It was like a miracle. It was fantastic.
“Playing the role, I had to dig into it and really dig into who Golda was, what the war was and what the implications were for Israel.”
The veteran English actress, 78, faced backlash for taking on the role alongside Liev Schreiber and Camille Cottin because she is not Jewish (pictured in the film).
Mirren told The Daily Telegraph on Saturday that while she understands both points of view, she is proud of her work on the biographical drama.
The London-born actress later said that she found it easier to play Meir once she accepted the fact that she was only providing one interpretation of who she was.
‘I can’t be like she is. She was better at being her. Of course, she was still alive. I am an artist and I make a portrait. It is my artistic understanding of this person. I think that also relaxed me with Golda.’
The film was released in theaters in October and Mirren’s casting immediately attracted attention.
In an interview with Radio Times, she noted that this is not the first time she has played a Jew and revealed that she is convinced she has Jewish heritage at some point.
Speaking about the controversial casting, he reflected: “The whole casting thing has blown out of the water recently.
Mirren looks virtually unrecognizable as the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir (pictured) in the film, sporting a gray wig and a prosthetic nose to get into character.
‘I’ve had other Jewish roles (in Woman in Gold and The Debt), but not a super Jewish role like Golda Meir.
‘I told him (Guy Nattiv, the Israeli Jewish director) that I’m not Jewish, in case he thought I was. I told him, “If that’s a problem, I’ll walk away, no problem.” But he said, “No, no problem. I want you to play Golda.” And we left.
The British actress, born in London to a Russian immigrant father and an English mother, revealed that she believes she has Jewish ancestry and considered taking a DNA test to prove it.