Mirren unidentifiable as she goes to war as Golda Meir
DAME HELEN MIRREN has undergone a startling transformation to play Golda Meir, Israel’s first female prime minister, in a new film.
In this first image from Golda, which is currently filming in the UK, Dame Helen is barely recognisable under layers of prosthetic make-up.
The film is described as a “tickingclock thriller” chronicling Meir’s handling of the Yom Kippur War of 1973. “Her actions, in impossible circumstances, would decide the fate of millions of lives,” the producers said.
It is also likely to be a controversial career choice for Dame Helen, a prominent supporter of Israel.
Meir was quoted in 1969 as saying there were “no such thing as Palestinians”.
“It was not as though there was a Palestinian people… and we came and threw them out and took their country away from them. They did not exist,” she said.
Last month, Dame Helen, 76, added her name to an open letter rejecting the cultural boycott of Israel and calling on Jews and Arabs to work together “under a shared love of the arts”.
At the time of the Yom Kippur War, when a coalition of Arab states launched a surprise attack on Israel, Meir was 74 and secretly suffering from cancer.
Guy Nattiv, the film’s director, said: “As someone who was born during the Yom Kippur War, I am honoured to tell this fascinating story.
“Nicholas Martin’s brilliant script dives into Golda’s final chapter as the country faces a deadly surprise attack during the holiest day of the year, a core of delusional generals undermining Golda’s judgment, all the while undergoing secret treatment for her illness.
“I could not be more excited to work with the legendary Helen Mirren to bring this epic story to life.”