The actor and director Meryl Streep was scared to work with: “Terrifying and destabilising”
Starting out in an industry as tough as making movies is a daunting prospect. Of course, everybody looks at Hollywood’s elite, but nobody pays attention to the thousands of stars who don’t get to shine. Most actors in the world could only dream of having half the career that Meryl Streep has enjoyed.
With a record 21 Academy Award nominations to her name and three wins under her belt, Streep has established herself time and time again as one of the greatest and most versatile actors of her generation. It means whatever project she graces with her presence is already notched up a couple of points on the esteem charts.
With all the accolades and all the high-profile figures that Streep has worked with throughout her career, one might think that the actor would be absolutely fearless in any new challenge that comes her way. That her incredible resume and worldwide appeal mean she is impervious to feeling the same butterflies we all get when approaching a new job. However, Streep once explained that she was “terrified” to work with both Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
The three icons of cinema collaborated on the 2017 semi-fictional historical political thriller The Post. It wasn’t exactly the shadow of Spielberg’s past greatness that left Streep feeling cold. Instead, it was how he approached his work. It was the first time that Streep had performed for Spielberg, and the opportunity instilled a sense of fear into her, most notably because of the way the director likes to shoot his movies.
In an interview with The Jakarta Post, Streep explained, “Steven doesn’t rehearse, so that was completely terrifying and destabilising for me.” Hanks, however – who had, of course, worked with Spielberg several times, including The Terminal, Saving Private Ryan and Catch Me If You Can, “was ready” to get going, according to Streep.
The Post sees Streep play Katharine Graham, the socialite-turned-publisher of The Washington Post, who crosses with Hanks’ editor Ben Bradlee, as the newspaper wrestles with the idea of publishing the Pentagon Papers, which detailed the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War and the events of the preceding years.
Streep was worried about working with Hanks and Spielberg, perhaps because of their previous professional relationship, noting, “So that was even worse (laughs).”
But it wasn’t the fact that the pair were such good friends that threw her off, Streep had far too much self-esteem for such nonsense. It was because Hanks, clearly comfortable with Spielberg’s techniques, rarely put a foot wrong: “Tom never made a mistake, ever. He was always completely word-perfect and ready and on the balls of his feet. So it made me lean forward, step up and do my push-ups before I went on set.”
Still, the experience was a “joyous” one for Streep because Hanks’ quality as an actor pushed her to provide her best work. “It was a happy group, because there were so many great actors and there was so little time in which to make this movie,” she said. “Steven is such an amazing filmmaker. I’ve never, ever worked with anyone who has a more intuitive, sensate feel for how to construct a visual narrative.”
Check out the trailer for The Post below.
