Helen Mirren Transforms Into the Groundbreaking Israeli Prime Minister In ‘Golda’ Trailer

Helen Mirren is certainly no stranger to playing historical women, having portrayed three English monarchs (Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Charlotte, and Queen Elizabeth II --- twice!), a Russian Empress (Catherine the Great), and an infamous American gun heiress (Sarah Winchester). So, the fact that she's doing it again shouldn't surprise anyone, though it's unlikely anyone could have guessed what her next real-life role would be

Clad in a fairly significant amount of prosthetics, Mirren stars in Golda, a biopic about Golda Meir, the first female Prime Minister of Israel. The only woman in the Israeli cabinet, she became a surprisingly effective military leader when her country faced simultaneous attacks from Syria and Egypt in 1973.

Written by Nicholas Martin (Florence Foster Jenkins), Golda is set during the tense 19 days of the Yom Kippur War, as Meir is faced with the possibility of Israel’s complete destruction. The conflict between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by President Anwar Sadat of Egypt ratcheted up Cold War tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.