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Helen Mirren breaks silence on Maureen Lipman's criticism amid Golda Meir casting row
Educating Rita actor Lipman had previously told how she was uncomfortable with Mirren, who is not Jewish, playing Meir.Speaking about the choice of casting, she said: "With that, I disagree because the Jewishness of the character is so integral.“I’m sure she will be marvellous, but it would never be allowed for Ben Kingsley to play Nelson Mandela."You just couldn’t even go there," she told The Jewish Chronicle last month.However, Lipman later addressed her comments, clarifying that they were aimed at the casting team and not Mirren.She said: "I have nothing against Helen playing it."My query is should the casting directors have looked first, and maybe they did, at Bette Midler or Streisand or Jennifer Connelly or Scarlett Johansson… or Tracey Ullman?"The biopic is set during the Yom Kippur war in 1973 and focuses on Meir who was Israel's prime minister between 1969 and 1974.
