Dame Helen Mirren.Photo:Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/WireImage
Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/WireImage
Helen Mirrenstepped out in style at a special London screening of her new filmGolda.
TheOscarwinner, 78, posed for pictures on the red carpet on Thursday at Picturehouse Central.
Dame Helen Mirren.Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/WireImage
In the historic drama, Mirren portrays the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir as she overcomes the challenges of the 19-day Yom Kippur War in October 1973 when Egypt, Syria, and multiple other countries in the Middle East launched a surprise attack on Israel.
Golda’s trailer was released in late July and featuredan almost unrecognizable Mirren.
Helen Mirren as Former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.Jasper Wolf/Bleecker Street Media
Jasper Wolf/Bleecker Street Media
In August, theWoman in Goldactress opened up toDuJourmagazineabout how the power of makeup helped her transform for the role. The film’s makeup department “went through various manifestations” to get her look for the part right," she explained.
“Eventually we got to a point where we felt it was sufficient but hopefully not too much. With that sort of makeup,you’re wandering into dangerous territory," Mirren said. “Obviously, it’s there and you can’t say it’s not there. But on the other hand, the audience knows I’m not an Irish woman living in Montana.”
Mirren, whose Oscar win was for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II inThe Queen, added that sometimes the makeup would leave her feeling more like Meir than she expected.
“I’ve never done anything like that before. It was an adventure,” she said. “I got so used to being that person in the daytime that when the makeup all came off and I saw myself as I am, I’d forgotten that was what I looked like.”
“There’s a picture the crew made of me and Golda, and we’re in identical outfits,” Mirren added. “She’s turning to me and saying something, and I’m looking forward with a cigarette. It’s really powerful.”
Before getting acclimated into her role as the Prime Minister, theCatherine the Greatalum, who is not Jewish,addressed the criticismthat came with portraying Meir.
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“It was certainly a question that I had before I accepted the role,” Mirren told theDaily Mailin February 2022.
Her statement was a response to Dame Maureen Lipman’s argument that “ethnicity should be prioritized” in roles like this.
Mirren noted that she voiced her concerns withGoldadirector Guy Nattiv.
‘Golda’ writer Nicholas Martin and Dame Helen Mirren.Jeff Moore/PA Images via Getty
Jeff Moore/PA Images via Getty
“I said, ‘Look Guy, I’m not Jewish, and if you want to think about that, and decide to go in a different direction, no hard feelings. I will absolutely understand,’ " Mirren recalled. “But he very much wanted me to play the role, and off we went.”
“My opinion was that if the ethnicity or gender of the character drives the role then that ethnicity should be prioritized, as it is now with other minorities,” Lipman stated, in part.
“I do believe it is a discussion that has to be had –it’s utterly legitimate,” Mirren said in response, before posing the question: “You know, if someone who’s not Jewish can’t play Jewish, does someone who’s Jewish play someone who’s not Jewish?”
“There’s a lot of terrible unfairness in my profession,” Mirren added.
Meir, who was Israel’s premier from 1969 to 1974, died in 1978 at age 80 from lymphatic cancer.
Goldawas released in the U.S. on Aug. 25.
source: people.com
