Mirren’s casting as the fourth Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, has drawn criticism. <\/p>
The casting of Helen Mirren<\/a> in new film Golda<\/a> has proved controversial, with the Oscar-winning actress playing the fourth Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir.<\/p>\n The controversy surrounding the casting has stemmed from the fact that Mirren, a non-Jewish actress, is playing a Jewish role.<\/p>\n Mirren\u2019s casting first came about because Golda\u2019s grandson, Gideon, said he wanted Mirren to play his grandmother, and the film\u2019s writer Nicholas Martin has said once Mirren was on board the team \u201cstood a really good chance of getting the project going\u201d.<\/p>\n Mirren has now responded to the controversy surrounding her casting, which has drawn criticism from Maureen Lipman and David Baddiel<\/a>, saying in an interview with this week\u2019s Radio Times magazine<\/a> that \u201cthe whole issue of casting has exploded out of the water fairly recently\u201d.<\/p>\n