Helen Mirren’s latest role as former Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir is stirring up some controversy.
The actress, 78, has received backlash for portraying the late Jewish political leader in the new biopic Golda. “I’ve had other Jewish roles [in Woman in Gold and The Debt], but not an uber-Jewish role like Golda Meir,” she told the Radio Times in an interview published on Monday, October 2. “I did tell [director] Guy [Nattiv] that I’m not Jewish, in case he thought I was.”
Mirren told the outlet she had “no problem” stepping away from the role if her casting was an “issue.” She shared, “But [Guy] said, ‘Bo, it’s not an issue. I want you to play Golda.’ And off we went.”
Golda — which hit U.S. theaters on August 25 — follows the story of Meir, Israel’s first and only Prime Minister, and her navigation of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. When it came to casting the historical figure, Meir’s real-life grandson, Gideon, recommended Mirren for the part.
The film’s writer, Nicholas Martin, told the outlet that he doesn’t think “this discussion about gentiles playing Jews is helpful,” adding, “Helen’s job was to portray Golda authentically, which Golda’s family would say she has. A leading Israeli historian said that Helen is ‘more Golda than Golda.’”
As an Israeli director, Nattiv, 50, did not think Mirren’s casting “compromised the authenticity” of the film. “When I met Helen, she told me how she volunteered, aged 29, on the kibbutz,” he shared. “She toured the country for five months and fell in love with it. She was basically Israeli, you know?”
Mirren is the latest of several non-Jewish Hollywood stars to be called out for portraying Jewish characters. Bradley Cooper’s upcoming Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro has faced antisemitism allegations because the actor wore a large prosthetic nose to portray the late composer — a physical trait often used in stereotypical depictions of Jewish people.
Bernstein’s children took to X (formerly Twitter) in August to defend Cooper’s casting. “Bradley Cooper included the three of us along every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our father,” Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein wrote in a statement at the time. “We were touched to the core to witness the depth of his commitment, his loving embrace of our father’s music, and the sheer open-hearted joy he brought to his exploration.”
Their message continued: “It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentation or misunderstanding of his efforts. It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose. Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well. Any strident complaints around this issue strike us above all as disingenuous attempts to bring a successful person down a notch — a practice we observed all too often perpetrated on our own father.”
