Helen Mirren Skips ‘Golda’ Casting Controversy Question at Presser
Helen Mirren Skips ‘Golda’ Casting Controversy Question at Presser, While Lior Ashkenazi Asks Journalists Who Should Play Jesus Christ https://t.co/wY94d8sxwt
- Variety (@Variety) February 20, 2023
Helen Mirren refused to address the controversy around her casting as Israel’s iconic Prime Minister Golda Meir in Guy Nattiv’s biopic during the movie’s press conference at the Berlinale.
When asked to comment on the backlash and the issue of authentic casting, Mirren left it to Nattiv and her co-star Lior Ashkenazi to stand up for her while she smiled shyly.
Nattiv said that when he met Mirren, he instantly felt like he was in the presence of a “family member” - an “aunt” who had the “Jewish chops to portray Golda.”
“We spoke about that for hours. She totally got everything, every nook and cranny, everything in this character,”
Surrounding Mirren with an Israeli cast was a crucial step, he said, to making him feel like he was “making an Israeli film.”
“Helen said something very smart. She said, ‘Okay, so let’s say only Jews can portray Jews, but what about non-Jews?’ So it’s like limiting us in such a way. I think that Israeli and Jewish actors have no limitations and they have no problems to portray (characters) around the world (…) in the international shows,”
Ashkenazi asked the crowd of journalists,
“Let’s say that we’re making a movie about Jesus Christ. Who’s going to play him?"
source