Mirren, 78, stars as former prime minister of Israel Golda Meir in the upcoming biopic Golda and was asked if she understood the recent backlash Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper faced over wearing a prosthetic nose to portray US composer Leonard Bernstein in the film Maestro.
Speaking on the BBC One program Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, Mirren was asked whether she could see why people were uncomfortable with what some term "Jew face".
"I think I can see, but sometimes I can't see, because, I can't see who in this room is Jewish," she said.
"We are all such an amazing mix and certainly I don't have an issue with Kirk Douglas playing a Viking.
"Kirk Douglas was Jewish.
"I think the whole question of assuming a certain physiognomy because you're playing a particular race - there is something offensive about that.
"On the other hand, if you're playing Leonard Bernstein, and this is really what Leonard Bernstein looked like, you know, maybe it's a good idea.
"It's as I said, it's a very delicate balance."
Asked if some of Meir's words and actions were unacceptable - she once said there was "no such thing as Palestinians" - Dame Helen said "that's true in the context of today's world, absolutely".
"We are all the product of the society that we grew up in and the world around us and our education and all the rest of it," she said.
"So yes, absolutely that's true."
Mirren said she did not "need to be reconciled to that"in portraying Meir.
"All I'm doing is playing Golda during the period of the Yom Kippur War and that's what I'm doing," she said.
"I'm not explaining her or rationalising her or reappraising her.
"I'm just playing a woman of that age, dealing with that situation."
The film focuses on the responsibilities and decisions that Meir, also known as the Iron Lady of Israel, had to make during the Yom Kippur War, an armed conflict fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states that was launched in 1973.
