IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Helen Mirren is unrecognizable in character on set of new movie

Just add this to the long list of powerful world leaders played by Helen Mirren!
/ Source: TODAY

Helen Mirren, is that you?

The Oscar winner, 76, was barely recognizable in a photo from the set of “Golda,” an upcoming biopic about late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.

Helen Mirren looks unrecognizable on set as she is seen for the first time as Israeli PM Golda Meir.
Mirren was unrecognizable as Golda Meir in the upcoming biopic "Golda." Click News and Media / BACKGRID

In a recent set photo taken in London, the “Queen” actor was seen wearing heavy makeup and prosthetics that practically transformed her into a mirror image of Meir.

Meir, nicknamed Israel's "Iron Lady," was the country’s first, and still only, female prime minister. She held the office from 1969-74 and died of cancer in 1978.

In “Golda,” Mirren will play Meir as she makes crucial decisions during the pivotal Yom Kippur War in 1973, Deadline reported.

Golda Meir speaking at National Press Club Luncheon
Golda Meir in 1969.Wally McNamee / Corbis via Getty Images

The film will also explore the challenges Meir faced working with an all-male Cabinet, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Golda Meir was a formidable, intransigent and powerful leader,” Mirren recently told the outlet. “It is a great challenge to portray her at the most difficult moment of her extraordinary life. I only hope I do her justice!”

Related:

Playing powerful leaders is nothing new for Mirren, who portrayed Catherine the Great in a 2019 miniseries and Queen Elizabeth II in the movie "The Queen," as well as on Broadway, so it’s no surprise she is tackling another influential historical figure.

“I have long been an admirer of the great Helen Mirren,” director Guy Nattiv told The Hollywood Reporter. “She has melted so brilliantly into Golda Meir’s character with incredible talent, intelligence, depth and emotion, doing justice to the richness and complexity of this incredible woman.”

“Golda” is currently in production and slated for release in 2022. “House of Gucci” actor Camille Cottin will co-star as Lou Kaddar, Meir’s personal assistant.