Helen Mirren Claps Back At Backlash Over ‘Golda’ Casting, Insists She Told Director ‘I’m Not Jewish’
etcanada.comBacklash over Helen Mirren’s casting in “Golda”, a new biopic about late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, has flared up, and Mirren is responding.
Speaking with Britain’s Radio Times, the Oscar winner said that she understands criticisms that she — a non-Jewish actor — is playing an iconic Jewish woman.
While controversy over her casting emerged last year, Mirren told the magazine that “the whole issue of casting has exploded out of the water fairly recently.” READ MORE: Helen Mirren Says Criticism Of Her Casting As Israel PM Golda Meir Is ‘Utterly Legitimate’ She cited some past projects in which she’s played Jewish characters, which didn’t raise any eyebrows. “I’ve had other Jewish roles [in ‘Woman in Gold’ and ‘The Debt’], but not an uber-Jewish role like Golda Meir,” she said, noting that she raised her concerns early on with “Golda” director Guy Nattiv. “I did tell Guy that I’m not Jewish, in case he thought I was,” she said. READ MORE: Helen Mirren Reveals Vin Diesel Introduced Her To Instagram (Exclusive) “I said, ‘If that’s an issue, I’ll step away, no problem.’ But he said, ‘No, it’s not an issue.
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