Helen Mirren Talks About Playing Golda Meir In Her Upcoming Biopic ‘Golda’

Just about everyone knows about the great talent of Helen Mirren, a legendary Hollywood actress who has played a plethora of different characters over her career that spans decades. Mirren has previously played political figures such as Queen Elizabeth II and also Queen Elizabeth I. She also received an Oscar for her former role in the film Queen in 2007. However, not enough people know about the Israeli stalwart Golda Meir, who led Israel through a devastating war in 1973. The actress talked about how playing Golda Meir wasn’t any different than playing the queen drawing similarities between the strength of the two political figures.

Mirren and Meir

Golda Meir had to battle forces from Egypt and Syria, among many others, in the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The Arab coalition was ruthless in its demands, and the Israeli Prime Minister had to put her best foot forward all after she’d been diagnosed with cancer. Meir was a chain smoker, and her habit had come to take her life, all while a war raged against her country. Mirren considers Meir brave and unlike any other political figure in history. She said:

“[Golda] was extraordinarily brave and her commitment to Isreal was total,” she said. “It was a bit like playing Elizabeth the first of England, in the sense [of] her commitment to her country and to her nation. She achieved it without being the sort of power-mad sort of dictator character. She was very maternal. She had that wonderful domestic side to her. She was happiest when she was on the kibbutz looking after the chickens, but life took her on a different path.” 

Guy Nattiv, also famous for 2018’s Skin, directs this film that focuses on the different paths that Golda took. The film’s world premiere was at The Berlin Film Festival on 20th February, and it received much applause from the audience. It is a political theater that again shows Helen Mirren’s capabilities. She looks unrecognizable as Golda Meir in the previews, and rightly so, has transformed herself into the Israeli Prime Minister for the film.

The war prompted Golda to push forward and seek US help which ultimately led to Israel’s victory over the Arab states to the extent that Egypt, one of the leaders of the war, agreed to sign a peace treaty with the country. The only woman in the higher-ups of the government managed to win the war for the country, proving to her fellows and people that her strength was indomitable even when she was struggling with something as brutal as cancer.

Here’s what the director had to say about Meir and her efforts during the war:

“In the sense that she is in the trenches, she is in one location and cannot leave, she’s very alone in the mayhem of the war,” said Guy Nattiv. “This is a very tough and hard look at the war and every soldier that dies. So for me, it was going in with my eyes open. Golda is not a super clear character in this movie. She had her faults, she make mistakes and she took responsibility, which leaders are not doing today.”

The Jewish struggle in Israel has had a long and bloodied history, but Meir managed to change that with her character and resilience. While Mirren is not Jewish, Nattiv argued that she is one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood and that she has a Jewish soul’. The film was also made by an Israeli crew with Israeli actors since the struggles of Israel are very central to the theme.