Friday September 11 2009

...with a little help from their friends Kate Mossman on the artists whocoveredtheBeatles

‘Men run the studios and live their own fantasies through them’ Meryl Streep skewers Hollywood sexism. By Tim Teeman THETIMESFridaySeptember112009 THETIMESFridaySeptember112009 66 times2 times2 67

RETNA PHOTOSHOT tion.” She’s the most nominated? “Yes, I’ve Worstjournalisticfauxpas lostit 13times!” Next, her voice features as Mrs Fox in Twomembers ofthepresssharethis We all respond Wes Anderson’s animated adaptation of award.Thefirst istheAmericanreporter Roald Dahl’s The Fantastic Mr Fox, which whoassumedthatLourdes,abeautifully to instinct, and opens the Times BFI London Film Festival observed filmseton aCatholicpilgrimage, ‘‘ next month. “He’s very demanding,” wasaboutMadonna’sdaughter.Theother their inner boy Streep says of Anderson. “He hears every- istheAustraliantelevisionjournalistwho thing, even a quasi-breath. It’s almost like acquiredTildaSwinton’sfestivalaccredit- goes, ‘Yeah, I he’stasting,tasting, tasting . . . ‘Right, that’s ationpassandworeit forseveralhours wanna see enough salt’. It was more like working with untilsomebodypointedout themistake. a composer, like he was hearing music Bestuseofreptiles another GI Joe’ inside his head and you couldn’t hear it.” WernerHerzog’s BadLieutenant:Portof Later in the year she appears in a post- CallNewOrleansisa shambolicmessof a divorce comedy, It’s Complicated. The moviebutithasa coupleofmomentsof Norma Desmond role in the remake of madgenius.Themostmemorable ofthese Sunset Boulevard is still for the taking. iswhenNicCage,playingtheeponymous sadness for herself. Streep says, “There are “Ooh, yeeessss. It would be fun. But my rogue cop,startstohallucinate ascocaine big expectations a woman has for her life. friend Glenn [Close] really knocked it out psychosis kicksin. “Whatarethose All the script said was ‘I’m so happy’. I of the park with that on Broadway so I iguanasdoingonmycoffeetable?”he ’’thought,‘Let’sseehowhappysheis’.” think she’ll have first shot.” She smiles. “I barks.Despitebeingreassured thatthere Streep does this, endowing her charac- thinkwehavetobea little bitgenerousand areno lizardsin theroom, Cage’seyekeeps ters with quirks beyond the script. Some- spreadit around.I’vehadalotof work.” driftingtothetablewhere theiguanas times you cringe, most of the time the squat,implacableandprehistoric.Herzog Meryl-isms feel right, stealing scenes, add- treep disagrees that her wasgenerousin hispraiseforthereptiles, ing a layer, packing a punch. Streep said roles have become lighter. describingthemashisfavouritethingin that the movie was liberating because “the “Prada wasn’t fun to play; it thewholefilm. usual things actresses think about — how was like I had mercury in Bestredcarpetappearancebya they look, what they wear, their hair — my mouth. Before that I did controversial head of state were jettisoned. To look over and see the Mother Courage on stage, man she loved looking at her with adora- which in your wildest TheVenezuelanPresidentHugoChávez tion, compassion, understanding and dreams could not be wasin towntosupport OliverStone’s respect was great to her.” Streep says that Sdescribed ascomedy.Idon’t documentarySouthofthe Border,of which the critics may carp that no husband could have a production com- Chávezisthemainsubject. Theliberal be as supportive of his wife’s career, “but pany. I don’t have anybody directing my VeniceFilm Festival audienceembraced Paul had had a life before Julia, he had lost career, it just depends on what scripts thefilm enthusiastically anditsstar was a much-loved partner. They met when he come.IfIlikethemIdothem.” Hugo Chávez bathes in adulation on the Venice red carpet greetedon theLidobysupporterswaving was50andlookingforsomeonewonderful So,whatnext?“Sevenmoviesin twoand hugebannerssportinga messageof andreal andJuliawaswhohe found.” a half years,” she says quietly. “I’ve never welcome.However,afew dissenting Streepwasrecentlydescribedasanecono- worked this hard ever.” Is she exhausted? voicessuggested thatChávez’spresence mist’s dream: every project she has recently “Yes. I’m feeling like I need a break. This is Venice isn’t onthered carpetmighthavebeenan been associated with has generated big box not the most fun part,” she says indicating indicationthatStone’squestions weren’t office. “It’s hilarious,” she says, stroking her the hotel room. “The most fun part is mak- tough enough. chin. “I wish I could figure out a way to capi- ing the movies, the prospect of selling Bestcomebackbya disgraced taliseonthat. Ithinkit’saseriesofhappyco- threeinarowis . . .harder.Sellinghasmore sinking shock! formerchildren’sentertainer incidences and also that there are more to do with wardrobe and shoes and clean- women in the hierarchy of movie-making ing upandbeing presentable.” RememberPaulReubens?Betterknown and movie-financing and they are more in- Has she ever considered giving up act- The Venice Film Festival is alive, asthecreepyman-child Pee-weeHerman, terested and less afraid of making movies ing? “No,” she says, snorting at the idea. Reubens wascast into theouterdarkness thatappealtootherwomen.” “But I do need enforced rest in my career. well and still throwing up acts of intheearlyNinetiesafterbeingcaught But this is a well-worn trend now. Hasn’t When each of my children was born I took masturbatinginapornographycinema in Hollywood woken up? “It’s always a shock a year off. It’s very nice to have time to live, happy lunacy, reports Wendy Ide Florida.His careerrehabilitationgetsa to the studio,” Streep says with real firm- gather experiences, watch other people.” seriousboostfromhisappearanceinLife Why don’t Hollywood’s men trust women? ness,“becausemenrunthestudiosandlive Sheoncetoldmethatsheeavesdroppedon DuringWartime,ToddSolondz’swidely hata their own fantasies through them. It’s conversations in restaurants, listened to turnaround. admiredquasi-sequeltohis1998hit, harder for a man to jump inside a woman accents, let them “marinate”.“Yes, I do it so Whilelast Happiness.Reubens isspoton astheghost character’s mind and imagine, ‘This could much, I can barely keep my ears on what Tim Teeman year’sVenice oftheunhinged formerboyfriendof Joy, ‘Women’s films’ make money but, Meryl Streep tells , macho executives can’t think female happen to me’ than it is for a woman to Don is saying. He tells me: ‘Don’t do that, filmfestival played byShirleyHenderson. imagine herself as a male character.” But it’ssoembarrassing’,”shelaughs. rumbledwith he hotel suite is so Woman, shawled on Lyme Regis Cobb, to a was navarin d’agneau. The boeuf bourgui- surely the profits count? “They see it and “I like observing behaviour and what Best-receivedfilm discontent blank — one empty zealous nun in Doubt, and a capricious gnon was a close second.” Did it improve they understand that there is a market and catches the eye, what makes us read each W Lourdeshasmetwithuniversalsupport about room, the other with hippy mother in Mamma Mia! In her latest Streep’s cooking? “The vote at home [hus- it will make them an enormous amount of other so closely. Ever since movies began anddeservedlyso—thefilmisexquisite, everythingfrom thelamentable standard a regal chair and a transformation she is Julia Child, the first bandof more than30 years, Don Gummer, money, but we all respond to instinct and we have read each other more closely.” She blendingasardonichumourwith ofthecompetitionfilmsto thelackof star sofa — Meryl Streep popular American TV cook, in Nora Eph- four children] is yes. I’ve learnt not to rush. it’s their inner boy that jumps up and goes: makes a frame to her face. “The pores. The compassionatehumanism.SylvieTestud powerto thepriceof asandwich,themood briefly considers my ron’sfilm Julie&Julia(seereview,page14). I’m snobby about the equipment. The pan ‘Yeah,IwannaseeanotherGIJoe’.” fashion for photography that goes into isoutstandingasthewheelchair-bound thisyearhas beenbuoyant. suggestion that we The film follows the real-life story of a does matter. I got my stove recalibrated to A recent article speculated that Streep Gordon Brown’s nostrils and tear ducts . . . MSsuffererwhoregainstheuseof her conduct the next half food blogger, Julie Powell, as she attempts correct the flames. I got my knives sharp- may be up for another Oscar nomination we see so deeply into each other, even as What’schanged?Thefestivalorganisers limbsafterapilgrimage. hour as a perform- to cook all 524 recipes in Child’s Mastering ened. I had to unlearn onion chopping. this year; a source said that the our understanding seems shallower and haveworkedhard to address asmanyof T theconcernsaspossible,butkeytothetide Worstaudiencestamina ance art piece. I’ll theArtofFrenchCookingin365days,along- One wrong move and I would have lost a organisation had noted a dearth of strong shallower. To see deeply you have to look stand in the bathroom, she can sit on the side the parallel story of Child in the 1950s knuckleandwe likeourknuckles.” female roles. “Parts are rare,” Streep says, deeply and feel where you are. You can’t ofgoodwillon theLidoaretherich Everyfestival screeninglosesa few throne while I fire questions at her. We as she masters the cordon bleu cookery Child, Streep says, “was great entertain- “the amount of product is rare. It’s a large just pass through it quickly. Passing pickingsinthefestivalprogramme,both in audiencememberstoboredom,hungeror could lie on the floor. She giggles, tries to thatwasthefoundationofthebookandher ment. She was funny, but only intermitt- machine that markets these films, that through quickly — the selling part — is andout ofcompetition.Crowd-pleasers adesperateneedtogettothenearestbar, fixabrokennail. career. The film is great fun: no violence, ently. At that time there were dramas and makes theatre [cinema] owners commit lesssatisfying.” includethehugelyenjoyableTheMen butNicolasWindingRefn’sbloodyViking Streep is not imperious, or as terrifying mostly happyrelationships,andlots ofbut- entertainment shows, singing and danc- their theatres half a year in advance — Wasturning 60this year important? “To WhoStareatGoats,starringEwan sagaValhallaRising setanew record.The as the editor she played in The Devil Wears tery, glorious food. You cannot wait for ing, the news but there were no instruct- that’s how it works. Are they gonna buy GI everyone else it was,” Streep says, grimac- McGregorandGeorgeClooney,and filmhadbeenrolling forfewerthan five Prada. She speaks softly, has a flutey laugh Streep to be on screen, booming and toot- ional shows. She’d always throw in a ran- Joe oraretheygonnabuyMammaMia!?” ing. “It wasa big number,tome itwas, ‘Well MichaelMoore’sbarnstormingattackon minuteswhentwowomenstoodupand and complains about the publicity-round ling as Child, alongside Stanley Tucci as dom thing, produce a dish and say [and Mamma Mia! did great business, I say. yeah, that comes after 59’, and I don’t even WallStreet’scultureof greed,Capitalism:A Jessica hastilymadefortheexit. Could ithave had attire of smart clothes and flawless make- her husband Paul. When the action shifts here Streep puts on the haughty Child “They’re still not sure,” Streep counters. want to look it in the eye. The biggest thing LoveStory. somethingtodo withMadsMikkelsen, up. Indeed, she reveals, exhausted after to near present-day New York, you find boom]: ‘When you put this in front of your “You need a good salesman. Those films that happened was not to do with my age OtherhighlightsincludeClaire Denis’s Hausner’s playinga one-eyed psychopath,having WhiteMaterial,atensestudyofa French ‘‘ justspatout thechunk offleshhe hadjust making seven films in two years, she is yourattentiondriftingtoyourpick’n’mix. guests you make people happy. And there’s have done well, yes, that audience is there, but my youngest [Louisa] graduating from taking a break — “enforced rest” she calls Streep recalls growing up in New Jersey, nothing like that. Nothing.’ It was easy to be but it doesn’t go on the first weekend high school and going off to college. I familyclinging totheir coffeeplantationin Lourdes is chewed fromthefaceofan opponentin it — though not before a broadside against coming home from school, “and my in that body because she reminded me of [whichtheindustrynervously observes].” always said when she did I would do anunnamedAfricancountrywhilea exquisite, battle?Those whomade itthrough the male Hollywood executives for ignoring mother [Mary] having it [Child’s show] on. my mother. She was a force of nature. She There are good roles for women, but the theatre, but I’m so kind of exhausted at the violentcivilwarragesaroundthem.Also goreweretreated to anintriguing, thesuccessof woman-focused films. My mother was not a cook. Her cookbook had great curiosity and enthusiasm. She lit filmsrarelyenterthemainstream,shesays. moment, the thought of doing a play puts widelyadmiredwastheharrowing blending savagely beautifulfilm. Streep is the most nominated actor in was Peg Bracken’s I Hate to Cook Book.” up theroom. When Iread Julia,Iknew that “My actor friends are all lamenting a lack meonagurney.” post-apocalypticroadmovieTheRoadand Worstbehaviourbyanactor Oscars history (her tally stands at 15 with Streep thought mashed potato came from personinsidebecauseitwasMary.” of material. People are very fearful of Ifshe did takeon a role,she says,it would Lebanon,which provideda tankcrew’s-eye sardonic two wins, the last for Sophie’s Choice in boxes. Later she trained to sing opera, then Streep was surprised to discover that where to put the money, and that leads to a have to be a fresh character, “so as not to viewof thefirstdayoftheIsraeliinvasion VincentGallo,promotingtheSwedish 1983), famous for utterly inhabiting her studied drama at Vassarand Yale,and wor- Child had no children. “But then I found timidity. For the kids there are cattle-calls; have someone say, ‘Well, she wasn’t as ofthatcountryin1982.Thestrongest humour with animationMetropia,apparentlygavea roles, from the steely magazine chief of riedthatacting“didn’tseemseriousorcon- out that her sister Dorothy did have child- they’re rounded up like models, plucked good as Dame somebody”. She laughs contenderforthetopprizehoweveris compassion warningthathewouldterminateinter- Prada to the mother of the baby snatched tributingtothebettermentoftheworld”. ren and I thought to myself, what would out, put in a movie and they’re done by 23.” merrily, but her handlers are hovering, JessicaHausner’sbrilliantLourdes. viewsinwhichthewords“but”,“however” by a dingo, Lindy Chamberlain, in ACryin She is still trying to lose the weight she that be like?” There is a piercing moment She laughs ruefully about the possibility of tappingwatches. The “selling”mustgoon. But,asever,themovieshavebeenbuta or“only”wereused.Healsorequested the Dark, to a bitter divorcée in Kramer vs. gained on Julie & Julia, she roars. “The food Meryl Streep, top, and, above, as the hearty TV cook Julia Child in the film when Julia receives news of her another Oscar nomination. “I keep think- part oftheentertainment,thehighlightsof priorapprovalofjournalistssothathe Kramer,toThe French Lieutenant’s was divine. I think the best thing we had in her latest film, Julie & Julia. “The food was divine,” she says sister’snewbabyandcrieswithjoyandalso ingIshouldgetagoodanswerforthatques- Julie &Juliaisreleasedtoday whichinclude: ’’ couldvetothosehedidn’tlikethelookof.