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Dame Helen Mirren has said she thinks she \u2018can see\u2019 why some people are uncomfortable with non-Jewish actors playing Jewish historical figures and said that there is \u2018something offensive\u2019 about \u2018assuming a certain physiognomy\u2019 to play a particular race.<\/p>\n
Dame Helen, 78, plays the former prime minister of Israel, Golda Meir, in upcoming biopic Golda and was asked if she understood the recent backlash Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper faced over wearing a prosthetic nose to portray the American composer Leonard Bernstein in film Maestro.<\/p>\n
Speaking about whether she can see why people are uncomfortable with what some term \u2018Jewface\u2019, the actress said: \u2018I think I can see, but sometimes I can\u2019t see, because I can\u2019t see who in this room is Jewish.<\/p>\n
\u2018We are all such an amazing mix and certainly I don\u2019t have an issue with Kirk Douglas playing a Viking. Kirk Douglas was Jewish.<\/p>\n
\u2018I think the whole question of assuming a certain physiognomy because you\u2019re playing a particular race. There is something offensive about that.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018On the other hand, if you\u2019re playing Leonard Bernstein, and this is really what Leonard Bernstein looked like, you know, maybe it\u2019s a good idea. It\u2019s as I said it\u2019s a very delicate balance,\u2019 she explained on the BBC One programme Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.<\/p>\n
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Cooper was heavily criticised for donning a prosthetic to play Bernstein in his upcoming biopic, also directed by the star, but the composer\u2019s children leapt to his defence.<\/p>\n
Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein released a public joint statement in which they said Cooper had \u2018included the three of us along every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our father\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations of misunderstandings of his efforts. It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose. Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we\u2019re perfectly fine with that.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018We\u2019re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well,\u2019 they added.<\/p>\n
Asked if some of politician Meir\u2019s words and actions were unacceptable by Kuenssberg \u2013 she once said there was \u2018no such thing as Palestinians\u2019 \u2013 Dame Helen responded: \u2018I think that\u2019s true in the context of today\u2019s world, absolutely.\u2019<\/p>\n
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The Oscar-winning actress pointed out that we are all \u2018the product of the society that we grew up in and the world around us and our education and all the rest of it\u2019.<\/p>\n
When speaking on being \u2018reconciled\u2019 with those issues, Dame Helen added that she \u2018didn\u2019t need to be reconciled to that\u2019.<\/p>\n
The Barbie and Shazam! Fury of the Gods star insisted that \u2018all she was doing\u2019 was playing Golda \u2018during the period of the Yom Kippur War\u2019.<\/p>\n