Veteran British actress Helen Mirren was subjected to antisemitic abuse on a London street, she said in a recent interview.
Speaking at the Taormina Film Festival, the Gosford Park actress said she was “attacked by mistake by a man who was maybe a little over passionate or maybe mentally not quite stable”, according to a report by The Guardian.
Videos that later went viral on social media showed Mirren and her husband, filmmaker Taylor Hackford, being approached and filmed by an unidentified man in London. The man referenced Mirren’s support for Israel before hurling abuse at her, calling her an “evil Zionist”. The incident reportedly took place last year.
“(I was) attacked by mistake by a man who was maybe a little over-passionate or maybe mentally not quite stable... I don’t know whether he read things on the internet or thought he read something which he hadn’t read, I don’t know,” Mirren told journalists.
Mirren, who is not Jewish, reiterated her support for the existence of Israel while sharply criticising the country’s military campaign in Gaza, according to Deadline.
“Evil forces are rising everywhere, even in a country like Israel... How could you possibly repeat the actions of what was done to you as people to other people? Crimes against humanity, it's called,” said the actress, who played Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in Guy Nattiv’s 2023 biopic Golda.
She added that her views on Israel have been shaped by growing up in post-war Europe.
“I grew up in Europe after the Second World War, and the realisation in my parents’ generation of what had happened in the Holocaust was so profound, so important. Therefore, the creation of Israel was a very important moment, although maybe it was done in completely the wrong way, in the wrong place, I don't know. But something had to happen after the horror,” she said.
Mirren also recalled visiting Israel shortly after the 1967 Six-Day War.
The Oscar-winning actor has previously voiced support for Israel, including co-signing a letter with musicians Gene Simmons and Boy George backing the country’s participation in Eurovision.