Helen Mirren, currently in Sicily to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Taormina Film Festival, addressed in an interview a controversial incident - the verbal confrontation she experienced in London, during which a man called her an "evil Zionist b****." Mirren said the attack likely came from someone who was "a little either over passionate or maybe mentally not quite stable."
In an interview, she addressed the incident that took place in London in November, a video of which resurfaced online weeks ago. The footage shows the 80-year-old actress walking near the Tower of London with her husband, director Taylor Hackford, when a man approaches her. She initially appears calm and even asks how he is, but he soon begins hurling accusations and insults related to her views on Israel.
“Helen Mirren, the avowed Zionist,” the man shouts, later adding, “ou said Israel should last forever because of the Holocaust. You are a Zionist b****! And you too!” he yells at her husband, who responds “f**k off” and tells him to leave, while the man replies in kind.
When asked about her views in the current interview, Mirren first urged media caution before offering her perspective. “The evil forces, they arise everywhere, don't they? Even in a country like Israel where you think, 'My God, this is what happened to you as a people. How can you possibly repeat the actions of what was done to you as a people to another people?” she said, implying a comparison between the atrocities of the Holocaust and the war in Gaza.
She also stressed her affection for Israel and her deep ties to the country. “I have such great friends in Israel, the artistic community in Israel, the intellectual community in Israel are such remarkable people.”
Mirren noted she grew up in post-World War II Europe and added, “The realisation in my parents generation of what had happened in the Holocaust was so profound, so important and therefore to me creation of Israel was a very important moment. Although maybe it was done in the wrong way, in the wrong place, I don't know, but something had to happen after the horror.”
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Helen Mirren has long been considered one of Hollywood’s most prominent figures expressing support for Israel
(Photo: Millie Turner/AP)
She closed with a historical reflection on power: “When you play Catherine the Great, why was Catherine called the Great? Because she took land. Why was Alexander the Great? Because he took land. He invaded, he killed people, he destroyed cities and he took land. Why is he remembered in history? Because with incredible brutality and unbelievable cruelty, he took land,” she said. “So it devastates me. That’s what I mean. The evil is always lurking, waiting to take over, even in a place like Israel. I played Golda Meir and worked in a country that was the idealistic Israel, and I always thought it was a country that would never do wrong, but of course they were doing wrong, even then.”
Mirren has long been considered one of Hollywood’s most prominent figures expressing support for Israel. She first visited Israel in 1967 after the Six-Day War, volunteered in a kibbutz and has previously said she traveled around the country. In 2015, when she received a lifetime achievement award at an Israeli film festival in Los Angeles, she spoke out against cultural boycotts of Israel, calling the idea of disconnecting Israeli artists “the craziest idea.”
In recent years her ties to Israel have returned to the spotlight following her portrayal of Golda Meir in the film “Golda” by Israeli director Guy Nattiv. Mirren has also voiced support in recent months, including reportedly joining more than 1,000 entertainment industry figures who signed an open letter backing Israel’s continued participation in Eurovision amid campaigns calling for its removal from the contest.