Mirren defends prosthetic nose
"I think the whole question of assuming a certain physiognomy because you're playing a particular race. There is something offensive about that,"
(TIMES OF ISRAEL, AGENCIES) – British actress Dame Helen Mirren has defended Bradley Cooper’s prosthetic nose in the Maestro biopic against accusations it is antisemitic.
Cooper, who isn’t Jewish, has been accused on social media of fuelling antisemitic stereotypes by wearing an exaggerated nose that appears even larger than that of the real Leonard Bernstein, whom he plays.
Mirren, 78, told the BBC there is a “very delicate balance” in portraying people of a different heritage and that it can be a “good idea” to use prosthetics.
“I think the whole question of assuming a certain physiognomy because you’re playing a particular race. There is something offensive about that,” she said. “On the other hand, if you’re playing Leonard Bernstein, and this is really what Leonard Bernstein looked like, you know, maybe it’s a good idea. It’s as I said, it’s a very delicate balance.”
The Anti-Defamation League has agreed with Leonard Bernstein’s family that Cooper’s prosthetic nose is not an antisemitic portrayal of the celebrated Jewish conductor.
Mirren was also asked about her leading role in Golda depicting Israel’s first and only female prime minister, Golda Meir, during the period of the fateful 1973 Yom Kippur War. The veteran actress also required prosthetics to look the part.
She said she has also faced “utterly legitimate” criticism by those who believe the role of Meir should have been played by a Jewish actress.
“It was certainly a question that I had, before I accepted the role,” she said and that she had told director Guy Nattiv, “Look Guy, I’m not Jewish, and if you want to think about that, and decide to go in a different direction … I will absolutely understand.”
The BBC also challenged Mirren as to whether she felt some of the remarks made by Meir are “unacceptable” – such as when the late prime minister said there is “no such thing as Palestinians”.
“I think that’s true in the context of today’s world, absolutely,” Mirren responded but added, “I don’t need to be reconciled to that.
“We are all the product of the society that we grew up in and the world around us and our education and all the rest of it,” she said. “All I’m doing is playing Golda during the period of the Yom Kippur War. I’m not explaining her or rationalising her or reappraising her. I’m just playing a woman of that age, dealing with that situation.”
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