Maureen Lipman attacks casting of Helen Mirren as former Israeli PM Golda Meir | Movies

Maureen Lipman has criticised the casting of Helen Mirren as Golda Meir in a forthcoming movie in regards to the former Israeli prime minister, saying that the character’s Jewishness is “integral”.

In comments reported by the Jewish Chronicle, Lipman stated she “disagreed” with Mirren’s casting. She added: “I’m certain [Mirren] will probably be marvellous, however it might by no means be allowed for Ben Kingsley to play Nelson Mandela. You simply couldn’t even go there.”

Meir, who died in 1978, was Israel’s prime minister between 1969 and 74. The brand new movie, known as Golda, directed by Israeli film-maker Man Nattiv is about in the course of the Yom Kippur struggle in 1973 and began taking pictures in November 2021. Manufacturing stills showing Mirren under heavy makeup had been launched, with Mirren, who just isn’t Jewish, commenting: “Golda Meir was a formidable, intransigent and highly effective chief … I solely hope I do her justice!”

The Jewish Chronicle’s piece cited a quantity of controversial cases of “Jewface”, together with Tamsin Greig’s recent suggestion that she ‘probably’ should not have been cast within the sitcom Friday Night time Dinner and the row over a stage manufacturing of the musical Falsettos in 2019, which contained no Jewish forged or crew members. It additionally quoted actor and comedian Sarah Silverman’s feedback on the mooted casting of Kathryn Hahn as Joan Rivers in a TV collection: “Proper now, illustration fucking issues. It has to additionally lastly matter for Jews as effectively. Particularly Jewish ladies.”

In distinction, the playwright and director Patrick Marber was quoted within the Jewish Chronicle article as objecting to the primacy of “lived skilled” in casting choices, saying: “I fucking hate that expression. As a result of ‘lived expertise’ is type of a denial of what creativity is and denies the actor the elemental problem and proper to turn into another person to impersonate one other human being from one other time, from one other tradition from one other faith and one other sexuality and different gender.”

Marber added: “I believe a Gentile can play a Jew and a Jew can play a Gentile. I don’t prefer it when somebody performs a Jew and will get it unsuitable. [But] I don’t like quotas.”