Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #17: "Catherine the Great"

Back in December 2012, I made my first "official" Wish List entry. I had just finished Robert K. Massie's biography on Catherine the Great, and of course opined at the time how great it would be if Meryl could portray the Russian Empress in a film.

Fast forward to 2019, and the story is brought to screen as a four-part HBO limited series starring Helen Mirren.



I watched it last fall of course. While I was thrilled that the series showcased the czar's reign later in life, the story never really provided a deep sense of urgency. Yes, there were struggles and dangers, and my GOD the scenery and costumes were breathtaking. But at times it just sort of felt like it was taking too long to get somewhere.

I wouldn't have minded a little bit of a lighter tone at time in the series. In general, I thought the acting was good, particularly Mirren of course. It's kind of funny how this is the second Shoulda Coulda Woulda where she ultimately plays a role I had wanted to see Streep play (The Last Station), and also the second one where she plays a Russian woman speaking in and surrounded by a family of people who have an English accents. Obviously they weren't just going to do the whole thing in Russian or German or French, but it's a bit awkward when I think of it.

This also would've been a wonderful opportunity for Meryl to have love interests much younger than her! Mirren does a great job showcasing how a woman over sixty can still be and want to be sexy. It's so rare to see women on screen in romantic relationships at all, much less with men twenty years their junior.

Sadly, Meryl was never really up for this role. Director Philip Martin had Mirren in mind from the start, evidently having developed the project around her. Regardless, it's still fun to picture what Meryl could have done with the role, portraying a monarch with such absolute power. It's highly unlikely we're ever going to see her in this character after this production.

On to the next...

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #16: "The Good House"

Multiple sources revealed yesterday that Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline have been tapped to star in the film adaptation of Ann Leary's 2013 novel, The Good House. For regular readers of this blog, you probably know that I've been holding a bit of a candle for this project for six years now, ever since it was announced that Streep was set to start alongside Robert De Niro. I had pretty much given up hope of ever seeing this story reach the screen, and when I woke up this morning to an alert on my blog that it had been recast, I wasn't really sure what to think.

My first thought was how out of the blue this seemed. I'd assumed this film had died and gone to development hell. But from what I understand, filming is already underway in Canada. The film will be directed by married couple Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky (I know, who?!)--there never had been a previous director attached. Amblin Partners is producing, with Universal handling distribution. Michael Cunningham had been reportedly working on the adaptation in 2013, but the articles I've read suggest that Forbes and Wolordarsky wrote the script. My guess is that the director pair revised Cunningham's original adaptation. 

While I'm excited to see this story brought to the screen, I feel it's an unfortunate missed opportunity for Meryl. Nobody knows how the film is ultimately going to pan out, but I'm very familiar with the book, and have for years now found is protagonist, Hildy Good, a fascinating character. Shes a 60-something realtor on Boston's North Shore: successful, strident, a mother, grandmother, divorced from a gay husband, descended from Salem witches, purportedly psychic, and desperately trying to hide her love affair with alcohol. Imagine Meryl negotiating this woman!

After reading the novel when it was announced Meryl was attached to the film adaptation, I've regularly revisited parts of the story, thanks to the amazing audible version narrated by the great Mary Beth Hurt. It's become a nostalgic story for me. With its historic town, numerous fall and winter scenes, witty dialogue, and comprehensive characterizations, it's a setting that's become  entrenched in my mind.

My hope is that the film does the story justice. I remember hearing Ann Leary in an interview a couple years ago saying that it was still in the development process, and that the producer, Jane Rosenthal, really wanted the script and characters to be as perfect as possible. It'd be great if the reason it's taken six years to go into production was because they were doing just that. Weaver is of course a brilliant actress, so I look forward to her interpretation of the role. On paper, it seems the type of project and character that would garner a lot of attention.

Sadly, The Good House has gone the way of other projects from the not-so-distant past for which Meryl was originally attached. The Last Station, Saving Mr. Banks, and Julieta all ended up being made with other actors in the main roles. In recent years, I had expected The Good House to fall more along the lines of Daughter of the Queen of Sheba, Dirty Tricks and Master Class, all of which have never reached the screen. 

I hope Let Them All Talk and The Prom end up being worth Meryl missing out this fall. Lord knows there are a thousand possible reasons why she never stuck with the project (see The Last Station et al.). Regardless, when The Good House hits theaters in 2020, I'll be one of the first in line.  

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #15: "Feud"

A year and a half after my last post in this section, I'm writing only the second Shoulda Coulda Woulda for which I can find no evidence that Meryl was ever considered to be cast. Going back to as early as 2005, Ryan Murphy had snagged Streep to star in an adaptation of John Jeter's play Dirty Tricks. We all know that never came to fruition, and ultimately we've still never seen a pairing of Meryl with TV's reigning titan.

Fast forward to 2016, when Murphy's series Feud was picked up by FX for an eight-episode season. Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange had apparently been tapped to portray the two leads of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, respectively. Back in 2014 I had commented in my reimagined history of Meryl's film career that the film Best Actress seemed like it would be a fantastic project for Meryl and Susan Sarandon. I even speculated that 2018 would be a reasonable time frame for release. Murphy ultimately optioned the script, which had covered the lead up to Bette Davis and Joan Crawford's feud during their filming of 1962's Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. 

The series (I'll say limited series because although it was intended to have more than one season, it has not) premiered in March 2017 to high acclaim. As the script had been extended into a eight episodes, we were able to see a far more in-depth, detailed look at the characters and the events that brought everyone together for the production of this now historic film. Particularly, it's a showcase of the antiquated studio system of Hollywood, and how anti-woman it was, much less women over forty.



This all reads like a wonderful project for Meryl. Of course Bette Davis would be a meaty part, but Susan Sarandon has such a likeness to her that the only option would've been Joan Crawford. Crawford was notoriously volatile and a somewhat tragic figure, owing to her troubled, abusive childhood. Part of me wonders if there would have been some raised eyebrows because of how traditionally beautiful she was--a feature that was regularly brought up the series. Jessica Lange certainly fits the bill for that, but how great would it have been to see Meryl super dolled up to be made as "pretty" as possible for the role? Couple that with the intensity of the character and you've got one of the best parts she could probably have asked for in her 60's.

The fact that the best roles for women of a certain generation are increasingly being represented on television, I have to wonder if projects like Feud, American Horror Story, Big Little Lies and The Nix are what we can expect to see most from Meryl in the future. I wouldn't complain. Getting eight hours of her over the course of several months is more to relish than one hundred minutes of a feature film once year.

       

 

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #14: "Julieta"

Pedro Almodóvar's 20th film, Julieta, debuted at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.  It was at this time that several articles came out describing how Almodóvar had originally wanted to have Meryl in the title role for his picture.  Sometime after meeting in 2003, the director evidently contacted Meryl and pitched his idea to her about the film.  From what I can understand, this likely would have been after 2009, when Almodóvar purchased the film rights to Alice Munro's book of short stories entitled Runaway.  The interesting twist in the casting was that Streep was to play Julieta (Juliet) at three very different stages of life: ages 20, 40 and 60, without the aide of makeup or special effects, something described by Almodóvar as "Ingrid Bergman-like."  Despite scouting filming areas in both parts of Canada and New York, the director unfortunately didn't feel like he had a comfortable grasp of American culture or the English language to successfully make the film he originally envisioned.

I had the opportunity to see the film this weekend and have to admit that it's difficult for me to imagine Meryl playing the character all by herself, at least if it took place now or in the past five years.  We see Julieta as a young woman and the circumstances around the conception and raising of her child to the age of early adulthood.  The nature of the story goes back and forth between different points in time and actually begins with her likely in her early 50s, wondering about the whereabouts of her now estranged daughter.  I understand that it would've taken some artistic license to not break up the role, but Almodóvar apparently believed that Streep deserved to negotiate the entire character herself.  I'm sure that would have been fascinating.

Being that the character spans a couple decades and ages of 20s to 50s/60s, it seems natural to have two characters.  As it pertains to the possibility of Meryl actually being in the film and when it could've been made, I agree that splitting the role between two actresses may be the best way to go.  I totally love the novelty of Streep playing it in its entirety, but if it were to be made with her today, maybe she could've had this be a film she and her daughter Grace could share.  It would be a big role for Grace, but I think she'd be up to it.  Or maybe Kate Winslet?  Streep's part would also then be the smaller of the two.  Were the film to have happened earlier, like five to ten years ago, I'd be more inclined to expect Meryl alone.

Where I struggle in my brain of course is trying to fit this film into the "reimagined filmography" timeline that I've created for myself.  Could we switch this with 2007's Dirty Tricks?  I realize that Almodóvar didn't even purchase the film rights to Runaway until 2009, but the book was published in 2004 and often we see film versions of books within a couple years.  We also know that Ryan Murphy still has the rights to Dirty Tricks.  Martha Mitchell would have been in her mid 50's at the time of that story surrounding the Watergate scandal, no problem for Meryl age-wise, and a political film release in 2017 would absolutely capture the zeitgeist.  After all considerations, however, being that Almodóvar's main reason for not making this in English was that he struggled with the language, if it were going to happen with Meryl, it was going to happen later than sooner.

Nothing has to be decided at this moment, but Julieta is a lovely film and very interesting character.  Any chance Meryl would have to work on a project with an auteur director needs to be snatched up, so it's a shame we weren't able to see this ultimately come together with Almodóvar and Streep.  Add it to the list.

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #13: "Daughter of the Queen of Sheba"

As I mentioned in my last post from this section in May, I've been making some mental adjustments to my 'reimagined history' of Streep's screen career.  Having initially felt confident in its inclusions and exclusions, I've begun realizing that the list of projects I would have loved for her to do is a bit more malleable than I had originally expected to consider.  With that in mind, I've selected another film that never actually got made for my newest Shoulda Coulda Woulda.

In 1997, Jacki Lyden, who at the time was a correspondent at NPR, published a memoir about her life growing up in the small town of Menomonee, WI and her relationship with her mentally-ill mother Dolores.  The book, entitled Daughter of the Queen of Sheba, was quickly a critical success, and within a month Meryl was revealed to be attached to play Dolores.  Obviously, the film has never made it to the screen, but after doing some research, I've learned that it came close several times.

Very little happened immediately after the initial announcement until 2001 when Gwyneth Paltrow signed on to portray Jacki.  Matt Williams was attached to direct, and Karen Croner (who penned One True Thing) adapted the screenplay.  Still, nothing moved forward.  Over the next several years, Reese Witherspoon and Amy Adams were both attached to star as well, but again, nothing.  Lyden discussed the difficulties of getting her story to the big screen as recently as 2009 (when Adams was set to portray her), and how she was still pushing to get it made.  Meryl's involvement was likely long forgotten by that point, but the powerful story remains an unfortunate missed opportunity.

I finished the book last week and was repeatedly left shaking my head at how interesting it would have been to see Meryl's interpretation of Dolores in the throes of her debilitating bipolar delusions. She is described as a beautiful, trim redhead, raised with few opportunities to forge her own path.  It reminded me a bit of Violet Weston (again likely borderline supporting), just not as mean.  Can you imagine Meryl at the age of 51 appearing on screen channeling an eccentric Rita Hayworth?  Read this book and you just might.

I would insert this film into 2001 and push Adaptation back to its original year of 2002.  A fall 2000 filming schedule seems reasonable, assuming Meryl would've been cool not having the break she enjoyed in that year.  Most people probably consider her three-year hiatus between movies from '99-'02 as a particularly long absence, but we need to remember that Music of the Heart wrapped in early 1999 and both Adaptation and The Hours were filmed in early 2001.  There were a handful of projects that never came to fruition during that time (Mary Stuart and Sheba notably), so assuming everything had come together within a few years of its announcement, 2001 seems just as good a year as any.  I've also struggled a bit with moving one of Meryl's Academy Award-nominated performance from its original release year (Adaptation), a problem solved by this substitution.

Who knows, maybe Ms. Lyden will still somehow manage to get it made.

                                              

Shoulds Coulda Wouldas #12: "Dirty Tricks"

I'm a bad Meryl fan.  Here I thought I was all done with the Shoulda Coulda Woulda section, but a couple of weeks ago while doing a little research for my "predicting the next five years" post, I realized something.  We already know that Ryan Murphy has been interested in filming Best Actress, the behind-the-scenes look at the making of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? for HBO.  I was unaware however that it was him who in 2005 was announced to write and direct Meryl in the film version of John Jeter's play Dirty Tricks.  

I had been fully aware of this project dating back to 2005, but was under the impression that the part of Martha Mitchell would've been a supporting role, along with Annette Bening as Helen Thomas, Jill Clayburgh as Pat Nixon and Gwyneth Paltrow as Maureen Dean.  Upon learning that it was indeed Murphy behind this project, with a little investigation I also realized that this was likely going to be a lead role for Meryl.  Martha Mitchell was deemed "the mouth of the South" for her whistleblowing in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal in early 70's.  The outspoken, Arkansan wife of Nixon's attorney general John Mitchell became famous after her frequent phone calls to members of the press, detailing political shenanigans that took place under the corrupt Republican administration.  

The news of this project broke in August of 2005, with Murphy hoping to begin filming by spring 2006.  If we consider the possibility that this came together for production at some point in 2006, we could've expected a release sometime in 2007, and as is usual with Streep's starring roles, likely fourth quarter for awards placement.  This idea created a predicament for me, as I've already completed my reimagined history, which included 2007 of course.  But consider if Meryl had a lead role in a politically-themed movie in place of the two supporting roles in the poorly-received Rendition and Lions for Lambs.  Plus it's a fairly baity character...alcoholic, eccentric, heavy Arkansan accent. Seems a better project than either of the aforementioned films.  

This of course would alter my reimagined history, something I thought was completely set in stone.  But I'm strongly considering addending it to replace both Rendition and Lions for Lambs with Dirty Tricks.  With the same rationale in mind, I'm also considering altering 2014's filmography, but I'm not giving away those exact details quite yet.  Regardless of what I decide, this was a fun discovery and yet another fun speculation of what could've been.  

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #11: "Mary Stuart"

As early as 1997, several sources reported that Meryl was set to produce and star in a screen version of Friedrich Schiller's play Mary Stuart with her friend Glenn Close.  Streep would portray Mary Queen of Scots, the cousin of English Queen Elizabeth I (Close).   Not only did Streep and Close ultimately not star in this production, but the film never ended up getting made at all.  This is therefore the only Shoulda Coulda Woulda I've posted which covers a project that never made it to the big screen.  It also would've been the first film Meryl co-produced (if we don't count her made for TV movie ...First Do No Harm in 1997).

So what happened?  Evidently while filming The House of the Spirits with Glenn Close in 1993, the two came up with the idea of starring together in a film version of Schiller's play.  They even approached Brit Richard Eyre to direct the project with a screenplay by Charles Wood.  Filming was set to begin in late summer 1998.  As so often happens, funding took a while to come together, and by the time it looked like it was going to happen, Meryl dropped out, being replaced by French actress Isabelle Huppert.  The only reasoning behind Streep's departure that I could find was from a Guardian article which stated that Meryl's heart was no longer in the project.  This obviously would've put the funding for the project in jeopardy, possibly resulting in its ultimate demise.

Mary Stuart potentially could've provided both Streep and Close with fantastic roles.  Although Mary of Scotts and Queen Elizabeth never actually met in real life, the play was a dramatic vehicle for the two main characters, as Elizabeth struggles with the prospect of having her cousin and rival for the throne executed for treason.  Previous film depictions of these two women starring Katharine Hepburn/Florence Eldridge and Vanessa Redgrave/Glenda Jackson also had the pair meet and interact.

For Meryl it would've been another nice buddy project, which we know she has an affinity for after her collaborations with Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton.   The character of Mary Stuart of course provides the opportunity for yet another accent.  I believe Stuart grew up speaking French, so perhaps Meryl would've spoken English with a French-Scottish accent (whatever that would sound like).  How nice it would've been to see Meryl's choices in the portrayal of a woman who's essentially on death row in the late 16th century.   

As previously mentioned, had Streep stuck with the project filming would've started in 1998, which means a likely late 1999 release.  I wonder if Meryl still would've done Music of the Heart, which filmed around the same time.  We know she spent a lot of time prior to that film learning and practicing the violin, a preparation that may not have been available had she done Stuart.  If getting the financials in order took longer than expected, perhaps they simply could've bumped it back a year and film in 1999.  We know she didn't have a ton going on around that time, and it would've given her a film release in 2000...and no doubt another year filled with Oscar buzz. 

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #10: "All the King's Men"

Ok, this is going to be the one Shoulda Coulda Woulda where most people will think Meryl totally dodged a bullet by not doing this picture.  In the fall of 2004 it was announced that she had signed on to play Sadie Burke in the film remake of the 1949 film based on Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel All the King's Men.  Shortly before filming was set to begin, Streep dropped out, with the best explanation being "a busy schedule in 2005."  Whatever her reasons, I doubt it truly was due to schedule, as All the King's Men began filming in December 2004 and likely ended in February or March 2005.  Meryl wasn't scheduled to shoot anything else until summer.

The original film in 1949 was a big success.  Broderick Crawford won an Academy Award for his performance as Willie Stark, as did Mercedes McCabridge, in the supporting role Meryl was set to play.  Sean Penn took over as Stark, while Partricia Clarkson reprised the role of Burke after Streep's departure. 

I haven't read the book but I've seen both versions of the film and evidently the 2006 remake is more faithful to Warren's novel.  The 1949 film version of Sadie Burke is a larger role, however.  Regardless, it's not surprising to me that Streep was drawn to this story.  We know that Meryl was less than thrilled with the reelection of George W. Bush in 2004, and a few of her film choices may represent that sentiment.  Only a few months before All the King's Men began filming, Streep starred in another remake of a political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate (coincidentally in a role that garnered the role's originator, Angela Lansbury, an Oscar nomination as well).  Three short years later in 2007, Streep would star in two additional politicized projects, Rendition and Lions for Lambs.

Despite the professional pedigrees of the individuals brought together for this film remake, it ended up being a major flop both critically and commercially.  It currently holds a lifeless 11% on Rotten Tomatoes.  So why the hell would I want Meryl to be in it?!  Well, because as part of my upcoming re-imagined Streep filmography, I want to be able to include at least one project that could've garnered awards attention each calendar year of Meryl' career, unless the film(s) otherwise serve some kind of personal or socially-conscious purpose.  With Prime being the only film Meryl had released in 2005, All the King's Men seemed a plausible addition to fit my criteria, but it requires some major adjustments.

Like so many critics, I agree that All the King's Men is not a particularly effective film.  It's beautifully shot amid the background of the early 1950's, but it seems like director Steven Zaillian just wasn't able to put together a flowing work.  Zaillian is an Academy Award-winning screenwriter but directing was a relatively new role for him.  Obviously Meryl found the script to be worthy of her participation and certainly that's never a guarantee of success, but it seems pretty clear that this may have been improved at the hands of a different director.  Maybe Steven Spielberg?  He's made it known that he would like to direct Meryl in something and had teamed with Zaillian for Schindler's List in 1993 (which won Zaillian his Oscar).  All the King's Men may not seem very "Spielbergy" but let's remember that he also directed less epic yet very good films such as Munich and Catch Me If You Can.  

Then there's the cast.  I happen to think Sean Penn was good, although may have been served well by some nuanced directing in regard to how "big" he went with the role.   Many people were particularly critical of the questionable Louisianan accents of the actors involved.  Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Anthony Hopkins (all Brits) were distracting with the variability of their speech.  Hopkins didn't even seem to attempt to sound anything other than Welsh.  For Law's role of reporter Jack Burden, perhaps Matthew McConaughey would've been more believable?  For Kate Winslet's Anne Stanton maybe a young Jessica Chastain?  For Hopkins, Donald Sutherland or Robert Duvall?  Poor James Gandolfini in the seemingly fitting role of Tiny Duffy couldn't convince us he was anyone other than a dumber version of Tony Soprano.  I bet John Goodman could've managed it well.

Unfortunately, none of these substitutions took place.  The film was originally slated for a late 2005 release, but re-edits after likely poor reactions to screenings caused the film to be delayed to the second half of 2006.  It was anticipated in Entertainment Weekly that the film would be a major Oscar contender, but to no avail.  It's too bad because the story is such a great one, and the role of Sadie Burke seems so up Meryl's alley.  A southern woman in the 1950's in a male-dominated field who finds herself at the forefront of major political corruption and who happens to be in love with her flawed boss?  An unfortunate opportunity missed.

I realize this post is particularly far-fetched, but it's been a fun one to reconstruct in my mind with different players.  I'll leave you with a clip of the alternate version for the film's somewhat abrupt ending, featuring Clarkson and Law. 

Emma Thompson in "Saving Mr. Banks"/Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #9

Yes, this is a dual-purposed post that will cover both my opinions on Emma Thompson's performance in Saving Mr. Banks and the prospect that Meryl could've portrayed P.L. Travers in place of Thompson.   Last night I saw the film and rather enjoyed it.  I'm a big fan of several Disney movies, and although I think Mary Poppins is 60% shitty, I am in love with Dame Julie Andrews.  A film therefore about the behind the scenes process of getting it from book to screen was sort of a no-brainer when it comes to pleasing this blogger.

Like American Hustle, I thought the film was good. I don't think any part of it was particularly fantastic, and I thought the flashback scenes were by far the weakest part of the film.  They were no doubt necessary but probably too much.  Emma Thompson (whom I absolutely adore) does a fine job.  Is there anything particularly challenging about this role though?  I'm not sure...at least how Thompson played it.  It became too one-dimensional, as the woman just seemed chronically unhappy.  We are shown why with the flashbacks, but I was hoping to see her humanized a tad more in the portrayal so that I actually cared about her.  Thompson showed us some of that when the character realizes that she has to make a few concessions with her demands, I just wanted more.



Current rankings for the year as follows:

1. Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
2. Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
3. Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color)
4. Amy Adams (American Hustle)
5. Judi Dench (Philomena)
6. Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)
7. Sandra Bullock (Gravity)

These critiques on Thompson are getting pretty picky, as I thought it was a nice performance.  I imagine though that the dimension I was looking for and the extent to which she let go of her stranglehold on production of Poppins, would've been provided by Meryl.  Technically Meryl would've been a better age for the film as well, as Travers would've bee in her 60's when all this was going on.  I usually don't compare what I feel Meryl would've done in someone else's role during Oscar season, but we know there are several sources that reported early last year the rumor of her possible collaboration with Tom Hanks for Saving Mr. Banks.  When news arrived of this possibility in February 2012, I posted about it and suggested that it would be fun to see Meryl join with Hanks, as the two had never worked together in a film.  I also thought Meryl would get to try her hand at an Australian accent again, but I've since learned that although Travers spent part of her childhood in Australia, she lived in England most of her life and sounded quite British.

It became clear however as the months progressed that Meryl was not going to be involved with this picture, as filming was to begin in fall 2012, the same time as August: Osage County.  I had no qualms about it at the time because I was sure August would be the far superior project.  This is not to suggest that Meryl made the wrong choice, rather to say the popularity and expectation of Saving Mr. Banks doing well has surprised me.  As the original script was blacklisted, it had been around for some time.  Had things got going say six months earlier, they could've perhaps began filming in California (as almost all shooting was done around L.A.) in early spring 2012.  Meryl was around the area a lot anyway for all the awards shows after the storm of Iron Lady nominations.  I can't imagine why, if filming were wrapped by May 2012, the film couldn't have been ready for limited release by December of last year.  That would've been nice spacing between Banks and Hope Springs (released in August), and would've provided Meryl another vehicle for awards recognition.  I wager we would've seen her double nommed at the Globes and in better contention for Oscar.  

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #8: "Six Degrees of Separation"

This is my eighth and possibly final "Shoulda Coulda Woulda."  I had originally thought that this category could be limitless, but I've since realized that I've exhausted the possibilities for what I'd like to cover as it pertains to films Meryl could've realistically done during her career.  This will all make a little more sense within the next couple of months when I do a sort of special retrospective of her film career from a "could've been" perspective.  Anyway...

My current selection is 1993's Six Degrees of Separation.  That was apparently quite the year, as three of my entries to this tag have been from '93.  I've read on a couple of sites, including IMDb, that indicate that the film was at least on Meryl's radar, as she had enjoyed the play and was interested in playing the lead because she had worked with director Fred Schepisi in 1985's Plenty.  Whether that's truly the case remains to be seen.  Regardless, I've enjoyed this film since before I was a Meryl fan, so it's fun to consider her in Stockard Channing's role of Louisa "Ouisa" Kittredge.  

The film revolves around Ouisa and her husband Flanders (Flan), two New York socialites encountered by imposter Paul, who attempts to schmooze his way into their enviable lives.  What I like about this character is that on the surface she probably isn't too different from the real Meryl.  Both are east coast sophisticates with a husband and children.  The difference however arises from the fact that Ouisa lives a rather unexamined life.  Day after day of eating out, attending weddings, parties, art shows, lunches.  Wait, this is bad?  Well, we're supposed to think it's shallow, boring and limited.  So when Paul enters the picture, we see the endless array of social gatherings in the backdrop as they tell their anecdotal tale of the boy who deceptively infiltrated their social circle.    

Slowly, Ouisa has realized that Paul's relationship to her and Flan wasn't just a trivial opportunity to get a few laughs and gasps around the dinner table.  Although ultimately tragic, it was a very human experience that essentially woke her up to her own life.  I don't know if we've really seen Meryl in something like this before.  Stockard Channing was deservedly nominated for an Academy Award for her performance, and interestingly, a Golden Globe for best performance in a musical or comedy.  I guess I don't generally think of this as a comedy, but at a stretch, I suppose a dark comedy isn't an inaccurate description.  Meryl wanted to try her hand at comedies in the early 90's.  Perhaps this could've been a good addition to, if not replacement for, a handful of forgettable pictures from that period in her career .  With the list of films I've covered in this section, five of the eight were released in the years spanning 1990-1993.  Ugh.  Seriously, what could've been.    

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #7: "The Last Station"

It is well documented that Meryl was scheduled to star in the film adaptation of Jay Parini's novel chronicling the final months of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.  Meryl would've played his wife, Countess Sophia Andreyevna Tolstaya.  Of all my "shoulda coulda woulda" roles, this is the one that Meryl was probably closest to actually portraying.  She and Anthony Hopkins were signed on to star in the picture, but as so often happens, money and schedules complicate things.  Director Michael Hoffman recalls:

I just couldn't get the equity together in time. ... The financing of these movies is so difficult. ... When The Devil Wears Prada happened, and Meryl was besieged with offers, we were trying to find a gap in her schedule, and in Tony's, because they're both very much in demand.  It was a frustrating process.  Then Helen Mirren's British agent said, "I read the script, and I think Helen will really like this."  I thought that was great, but I was confronted with a dilemma.  Meryl was a great friend of the project. 

Damn schedules.  Alas, Helen Mirren joined Christopher Plummer in portraying the Tolstoys.  The film takes place in 1910 and follows Tolstoy's disciples and their tricky battle with Sophia over property rights in the event of her husband's death.  Sophia is a bit of a prickly character, defending her family's assets against "Tolstoian" followers, led by Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) who, like Tolstoy himself, detests material possession.  Joined by Tolstoy's new secretary Valentin Bulgakov, played by James McAvoy (amazing), Tolstoy is convinced to agree to a new will that signs all his works over to the public domain.   This was evidently reversed a few years after Tolstoy's death, so Sophia got her way after all.

There are some great dramatic if not histrionic scenes for Sophia in this role.  One in particular I enjoy is during a dinner scene (during which they play Puccini's aria "Un bel di" from Madama Butterfly) where Sophia gets so worked up that she resorts to throwing dishes and ends up on the floor gasping for air.  That probably would've been fun for Meryl.  Another of my favorite, less crazy moments:



One of the more compelling possibilities would have been to hear Meryl doing a Russian accent.  I know it's not a guarantee that she would've done one, considering everyone in the 2009 film has a British accent.  These people would've been speaking Russian, not English with a Russian accent in real life.  However I picture Meryl finding it easier to portray Sophia by demonstrating at least a little beet of a Russian sound.  In fact, I wish the actors in the film had decided to try it.  Russian speech and consonants are so facially physical that it seems to me it would have ultimately been more convincing for the film's setting, instead of it seeming rather like another English period piece at times.  I think Meryl could have persuaded them.

Both Mirren (lead) and Plummer (supporting) were honored with Academy Award nominations.  Meryl joined Mirren with a nod for Julie & Julia.  Sandra Bullock took home the award for her performance in The Blind Side.  No, seriously. 

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #6: "Shadowlands"

What's this?  Another "Shoulda Coulda Woulda" already?!  My reasoning will become clear in the next couple of months when I tie a few things together in a retrospective look at Meryl's entire film career.  Before I can do that, however, I need to tackle a couple more films I wish Meryl had ended up doing.  1993's Shadowlands was not on my radar until a few weeks ago when I read a great article from last year by Michael Burge.  After a little digging, I discovered that Meryl was indeed considered for the lead role of American poet Joy Gresham, which ultimately went to Debra Winger.

Of course I had to watch the film before I decided to write about it.  What makes the possibility of this film compelling is that it too (like The Remains of the Day and Thelma and Louise) was made during what Burge called in his article Meryl's "wilderness years," a term I love and am going to steal.  It also could've seen her team up with Anthony Hopkins (again), an onscreen chemistry which I'm certain would've worked exceedingly well.

In this film (unlike The Remains of the Day) we actually get a payoff for the couple, in that they officially express their feelings for each other and end up together.  As stated, Meryl would've played real life poet Joy Gresham, who after her divorce emigrates to England with her son, where she befriends well-known author of The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis (Hopkins).   The two enter a marriage of convenience in order for Joy to attain English citizenship.  After her diagnosis of bone cancer, however, the two make known their true affections for each other and officially tie the knot "before God."

This film provides some great acting opportunities.  Debra Winger does a great job, having received an Academy Award nomination.  Like Winger, we probably would've seen Meryl with a bit of a New York accent, and a fun, mildly imprudent personality which contrasts well with Lewis's reserved demeanor.   One of the more challenging areas includes her interaction with her son, and their grappling with her inevitable death.  Part of me thinks that director Richard Attenborough knew how effectively Winger plays the part of a terminally ill mom saying goodbye to her son, considering another of her Oscar-nominated performances in Terms of Endearment.   That's a role up to that point we really hadn't seen from Meryl.   I'm sure it would've only fueled the criticism of Meryl's most prolific detractor, the late Pauline Kael, who wished we could see her "giggle more and suffer less."  I'd just assume see her in the best role, regardless of how funny or serious it is.  Another one missed.

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #5: "The Remains of the Day"

Housekeeper Miss Kenton in 1993's The Remains of the Day, one of only two or three feature film roles for which Meryl Streep was actually turned down(!), is my latest entry in this unintentionally fallowed section.  It's unfortunate writing about a film role which Meryl actually really wanted but did not ultimately get to portray on screen (see my post on Sweet Dreams).  In this instance, it's particularly disappointing, considering the film took place during a period where Meryl had uncharacteristically strayed from her typical dramatic turns in order to try her hand at shitty comedic roles.

Remains begins as a sort of flashing back of Miss Kenton's (Emma Thompson) former position as housekeeper for a wealthy Englishman on a large country estate in the years leading up to World War II.  Twenty years later, having left her husband, she finds herself in need of return to work in service.  She therefore writes the head butler, played by Anthony Hopkins, who eventually  tries to persuade her to return to Darlington Hall, which is now owned by a former U.S. Congressman (Christopher Reeve).   The flashbacks show us an unrealized romantic relationship between Miss Kenton and the private and seemingly unemotional Mr. Stevens (Hopkins).  All this takes place against the backdrop of rising Nazi influence in Western Europe, a party which Darlington Hall's owner becomes closely linked.  Having never appropriately expressed his affections, the film basically ends with Mr. Stevens waving goodbye to a sobbing Miss Kenton, who regrets not having made her own feelings more known prior to leaving Darlington Hall, ultimately marrying a man she never really loved the way she did Stevens.



It would've been fantastic to see how Meryl interpreted that scene.  Miss Kenton is a borderline supporting role in my opinion, but both Hopkins and Thompson were deservedly nominated for Academy Awards in lead. In total the film received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, despite winning none.  It's an absolutely fabulous script and was obviously very well received by critics.  No wonder Meryl had been so interested.

The events which led to Meryl being replaced are only hazily documented.  Evidently Mike Nichols (who had directed her in Silkwood, Heartburn and Postcards from the Edge) was set to direct the film in the early 90's.  He had Meryl and Jeremy Irons read for the leads but deemed the two unsuitable for the roles.  Meryl's agent, who was also Nichols's agent, failed to inform her of this and she therefore sort of lost the part behind her back.  This resulted in Meryl switching agents and living with a bit of a chip on her shoulder about what had taken place.  Apparently all is fine now, but I can easily understand Meryl's anger, considering it was the kind of part that was no doubt becoming few and far between after turning 40.  Thompson was 34 when the film was released.  This isn't to say that Meryl was replaced due to age, but her outrage in my opinion speaks to the leanness of great roles for women at that time.  The film ended up being directed by James Ivory.  1993 instead saw Meryl star alongside Irons in the forgettable The House of the Spirits.   Huge opportunity missed.

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #4: "Evita"

For some time I've wanted to add this film to my Shoulda Coulda Wouldas section, but I figured before I could write about it I had to actually watch it.  My uncle Jim lent me his copy of Evita about two years ago and I got around to viewing it...today.  So thank you/sorry Jim, as I'm sure you've forgotten by now that you ever owned the DVD.

Why Evita?  Most big Meryl fans know that a film version of this 1978 musical was planned shortly after its London debut.   By the mid to late 1980's several actresses, including Meryl, were considered for the lead of Eva Perón.   Madonna evidently campaigned for the role pretty hard, and as much as I'd like it to be true, the quote of Meryl saying "I can sing better than Madonna...if she gets the part I'll rip her throat out" is in fact Hollywood lore.

From what I understand, Meryl was actually offered the role in 1989, with production to begin in early 1990.  If we think about the timing of this, in retrospect it would've been perfect for awards positioning.   Had filming indeed started in early 1990 with Meryl in the lead, it likely would've had a 1991 release.  Call it a hunch, but I think this picture would've been a bigger deal than Meryl's 1991 film Defending Your Life.  Haven't seen it?  Yeah, few have.   Alas, production was delayed, directors changed and Meryl was out of the running by the time Evita was released in late 1996.   I was surprised to read in an article from the L.A. Times that Streep's representative cited "exhaustion" for her non-involvement in the film.  Sounds more like an excuse we'd hear from  Lindsay Lohan, and I question the claim's validity.

This film is actually decent.  Who doesn't love a good musical?   Joe mentioned recently that he used to repeatedly watch this movie during his self-described "Andrew Lloyd Webber phase" in high school.  Until watching the film today, I never realized what an affinity Lloyd Webber had for creating a sort of omniscient singing narrator in his musicals, a la Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph.   The plot takes us through the life of Eva Duarte, who overcomes a modest upbringing to win over the heart of Argentinian military officer Juan Perón.  Perón ultimately becomes president of Argentina, with immense help from his populist vote-garnering wife.  Despite their appeal to the poor and middle class, the Argentinian bourgeoisie (and some historians for that matter) assailed the Peróns as demagogues and dictators.  How juicy. 

The story seems so up Meryl's alley.  Evita is a major historical figure, a glamorous and strong woman, and the film takes place in South America.  The Argentinian setting would've been a first for Meryl.  Had she ultimately been in the film, perhaps she would've reconsidered her decision to join an almost all Anglo-American cast to portray a Chilean family in 1993's box-office flop The House of the Spirits.   I'm sure that wouldn't have mattered, but I can't help jabbing Spirits because it's super boring.   She would've been singing in English in Evita anyway.   Or would she?

A big chunk of this particular shoulda coulda woulda idea is that Meryl would've been in a musical.  Keep in mind this was long before Mamma Mia!, and after a decade of very heavy dramatic roles in the 80's, a musical of this caliber would've been a novel choice.   And let's keep it real; yes, Meryl indeed can sing better than Madonna.   The one thing I noticed about the score however is that some of Evita's part are rather high.  Meryl has stated in interviews that she once possessed a good coloratura voice.  I'm not sure if she meant soprano, but technically the coloratura Fach can be represented in any vocal tessitura, and Streep's voice, at least in performances of hers I've heard, seems to be closer to a mezzo.   But who knows, she may have had no problem with it. 



Meryl would've killed in that scene.  Not to take away anything from Madonna, who did a fine job.  It couldn't have been easy when Argentinians were protesting her participation in the film.  Many didn't approve based on some of her more racy career choices.  How can we forget her 1992 book Sex?  Streep likely would've experienced no such backlash.  Kudos to Madonna for winning the Golden Globe award for Actress in a Musical or Comedy in 1997.   That's usually a slam dunk for Meryl, and I don't think an Oscar nomination would've been out of the question with the right director and co-stars.   The film ultimately was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning for best original song "You Must Love Me."

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #3: "Thelma & Louise"

This is quite possibly the mother of all "shoulda coulda wouldas."  For me at least.  This summer marks the 20th anniversary of the first time I saw this film (21st of its release), and Thelma & Louise quickly became very memorable.  In the summer of '92 my sister had a friend over for a sleepover and they rented Lord of the Flies and Thelma & Louise, both on VHS of course.  The selections in retrospect surprise me because we were all under the age of 15 and I feel like my parents would've squelched the idea of anything rated R.  Regardless, I watched Lord of the Flies with them, after which they popped in the second film and swiftly proceeded to fall asleep.  I had no trouble staying wide awake.

I felt easily drawn in by the film's southern setting. Having grown up in a fairly rural area, I spent a lot of time on my grandparents'/uncle's farm, and always associated my upbringing with the country, which made (and makes) Thelma & Louise particularly nostalgic. We follow these two ladies on a journey across the south, on the run after Louise shoots and kills a man who was attempting to rape Thelma in the parking lot of a (Country-Western) night club. Despite the anxiety I felt about how much trouble they were in, the angst turned into almost a sense of relief as the two eventually set their minds to eluding police and making it across the border into Mexico and apparent safety. This film may very well have been the impetus for my ongoing affinity for strong women.

 The film seemed really long at the time, but in a good way.  It's only a little over two hours in length, but the scope and cinematography of the film, its engaging score, the landscape it traversed, and the emotional transitions the two lead characters went through made it feel like a journey for me too, all the way up to their historic plunge into the belly of the Grand Canyon. Seeing Brad Pitt for the first time on screen half naked probably didn't do much to deter my interest either.

So how does Meryl fit into all of this?  Meryl and Goldie Hawn had been interested in doing a movie together for a while. The script, which won Callie Khouri an Academy Award, had been floating around Hollywood for a few years, with plans that Jodie Foster and Michelle Pfeiffer would be cast.  There's a great online article from Vanity Fair for the 20th anniversary of the film's release in which it's revealed that Meryl and Goldie asked for a meeting with the production company and evidently loved the script and the characters.   Meryl however thought that one of the ladies should live (always putting in her two cents).

Director Ridley Scott is quoted as saying that he had a long conversation with Meryl and found her "absolutely wonderful," but that she had a "movie conflict."  Okay, the only film released in 1991 that included Meryl was the lightweight romantic comedy Defending Your Life.  I have to wonder if in hindsight Meryl would've reconsidered.   I mean, Buddha bless Albert Brooks, but have you seen that film?  Um, yeah.  The film that ultimately combined the talents of Meryl and Goldie was 1992's Death Becomes Her.  That film had its fans, but certainly not of the magnitude of Thelma & Louise, which garnered lead actress Oscar nominations for both Davis and Sarandon.  Both eventually lost out to Jodi Foster in The Silence of the Lambs (possibly my all-time favorite film).  Click on this link to take a look at the two ladies in action (I again apologize that I was unable to find a clip with the stupid embed enabled).

What's interesting is that in the Vanity Fair article, Ridley Scott states that Meryl would've played Louise.  In other articles I've read, Meryl was considered for either part.  It was hard for me to picture her in the role of Thelma until I recently watched the film with the director's commentary (only mildly embarrassed to admit that).  Scott reminds us of the role reversal that takes place about midway through the film.  Specifically when J.D. (Pitt) steals their money, we see Louise have a breakdown and Thelma sort of take on the role of mother, a place Louise had seemed to firmly establish in the first half.  It would've been fun to see Meryl negotiate that transition in either role. 

Despite my adoration of Miss Meryl and the weird tendency I have to dwell on "what could've been" for her roles,  Thelma & Louise is kind of like sacred ground for me when it comes to movies.  I've no doubt Meryl would've been amazing, and given the chance to see a version of the film including her I would accept in a heartbeat.  But the excellence of the film, its original performances and the nostalgic qualities it holds for me maintain it as one of my absolute faves.  And does anyone else totally get the urge to smoke an entire pack of cigarettes while watching this film?  Christ, it's worse than All About Eve.

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas #2: "Sweet Dreams"

For my second entry in this section, I've chosen the role of Patsy Cline in 1985's Sweet Dreams.  Minnesota native (woot woot!) Jessica Lange was nominated for an Oscar for her role as country music's first female megastar.  This is the part which Meryl has openly described as the one she really wanted, even begged for, but did not get.  Director Karel Reisz, who had directed Meryl to her first lead actress Oscar nomination four years earlier in The French Lieutenant's Woman, evidently had Lange in mind for the role from the get-go.   To be honest, based simply on resemblance to Cline, Lange seemed like a far better fit than Streep.  That in mind, I wouldn't (sweet) dream of underestimating Meryl's talent for executing convincing portrayals.  She had obviously found in the script a connection to the main character.  Plus, it was clearly very Oscar-baity.  I imagine had Streep been cast, the physical resemblance questions would've melted away within her first few onscreen moments.

Meryl of course has been quite vocal in her praise of Lange's performance, calling her "beyond wonderful."  I watched this film (in like nine sections on youtube because I couldn't find it on Netfilix, Amazon or Itunes rentals...sheesh) and I have to agree that Lange knocked it out of the park.  I really had no idea how tumultuous Cline's relationship had been with the her husband, however dramatized or exaggerated it may have been made for the film.  Here's a clip of their first meeting:




Ok, Ed Harris looks like a clone of Michael Fassbender in Shame.  I wager that Meryl was attracted to this role not just for the script, but for the fact that it's a role portraying a singer.  Lange obviously lip-synced to Cline's recordings, so I suppose the same would've been done for Meryl.  I don't know whether or not Lange can sing, but we know Meryl can, and probably in nearly the same vocal fach as Cline.  However, with a voice as recognizable and iconic as was Cline's, I imagine the director would've insisted on the original recordings, possibly to Meryl's chagrin.  At least she would've been able to try her hand at the very distinguished-sounding Virginian accent.  Gawd.

Both Out of Africa and Plenty were released in 1985.  The shooting schedule for Africa was several months long, and I can't imagine that Plenty's was a breeze either.   Would we have been denied Meryl's participation in either of these films had she been given the role in Sweet Dreams?  We can only wonder.  I doubt she would've passed on the role of Karen Blixen, and shooting schedules can likely be shifted a bit in order to accommodate actors.  I have a feeling I wouldn't have terribly missed Plenty, especially if Sweet Dreams had ultimately become part of Meryl's film canon. Regardless, this is one that got away. 

Shoulda Coulda Wouldas

My first post for this tag!  I suppose it needs a little explanation.  I'm starting a section where I discuss which film roles I would've liked to see Meryl play.  She'd certainly be incredible in almost any role, so we therefore need to have some guidelines as to which films are eligible for selection.  I'm going to restrict my choices to those roles in which Meryl could have feasibly been cast based on her age when the film was produced.  With that said, I think you may be surprised by my choices. Others are likely going to be obvious selections from performances by Glen Close, Jessica Lange, or Susan Sarandon, for example.   I think this will be one of my favorite sections.  Let's start!

To inaugurate this fun section, I've chosen the role of Stands With a Fist in 1990's Dances With Wolves.  The performance garnered Mary McDonnell an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. I have for a long time thought that this role had many qualities that would've been fun to see Meryl interpret.  One is the obvious aspect of language.  Half the lines of this character are spoken in Lakota.  Not exactly a frequently heard tongue on the big screen. Stands With a Fist is actually a white woman who was taken in by the Lakota people when, as a little girl, her family is killed by a group of Pawnees.  She acts as a sort of translator between Kicking Bird and Lt. John Dunbar (Kevin Costner).  McDonnell had the challenge of making us believe that she's digging deep into her memory to recover the English language of her (tragic) childhood.  No doubt a tricky negotiation considering how painful the memories would've been.  That, coupled with the broken/accented speech, seems very much in Meryl's wheelhouse (not to impugn McDonnell's brilliant work, however).  See for yourself:




I've loved this movie since I was a kid.  I made Joe watch it once but he found it overall slow and the voice-overs too much. Basically he hated it.  Watching it again as an adult I get that, but it holds good memories and reminds me of time spent at my parents' cabin where my dad and I used to watch it.  I can recall one year on the drive up there I started dozing off and he scared the shit out of me by yelling "tatanka!" when he noticed five buffalo on a farm.  Good times.

Even though McDonnell was nominated in the supporting category for this role, had Meryl been in it, I can see them campaigning for her in lead.  Streep is a much more prominent actress, and Stands With a Fist is in a lot of this three-hour-long epic Western.  It makes me wonder if Meryl ever noticed it, was considered for it, and if so, if she would've done it.  After all, it was hugely successful at the box office and the Oscars.  Maybe the role would've been small potatoes for her at that point in her career, coming off the most celebrated decade any actor has ever had.  It would be fun to ask her about roles like this; if they were ever on her radar.  The best we can do is to have fun speculating!  Until Meryl calls me, of course.