Vanessa Redgrave was immersed into radical political activism back then, so different than her sister Lynn Redgrave (Georgie Girl). Vanessa was the Jane Fonda of Great Britain back then. Now, she still acts, but as is to be expected, one is less in demand at her age 80. Vanessa was tall and elegant during her younger years, but took on a somewhat haggard appearance over time. I suspect her politics has not changed at all.
That movie “Julia” represents one of the low points (among so many) of US popular culture and propaganda. Lillian Hellman created propaganda lies to put herself at the heart of anti-Nazi resistance when in fact there is zero evidence that she did anything, and she appropriated the real story of “Julia” (actually another woman named Muriel Gardiner who actually did do some of the kinds of resistance activites which Lillian Hellman fantasized about doing.
So Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave produced agitprop for Lillian Hellman to whitewash her actual Stalinist past and present herself as a heroine of the anti-Nazi movement.
Redgrave’s haggard look might stem from death of her gorgeous daughter, Natasha Richardson, in a ski accident. Tough for any mother to handle.
Natasha starred in a movie on my all-time-favorites list: The White Countess.