First glimpse of Meryl as "Violet"

Yesterday some photos showed up on the web from the set of August: Osage County.  Thank you to whomever at aboutjulia.com found these!  There's just one of Meryl, with co-star Margo Martindale who plays her sister Mattie Fae.

The first thing I thought when I saw this pic is that Meryl (on the right...hopefully obviously) looks like she has crazy-lady hair.   That's probably a good wig choice because Violet likes her some crazy.  The second thing I thought was, shit, these two really look alike here.  Again, good choice on casting, as they play sisters.  Being that the two are donning black garbs, I'm sure the scene they're working on is from the beginning of Act Two in the play, where the Weston family has just buried their lost and found patriarch, Beverly.

Tulsa World has also posted some pics from this week's shoot, mostly of Chris Cooper and Benedict Cumberbatch.  Again, these are likely from scenes after Beverly's funeral, as this is where Little Charles is introduced.   So excited to hopefully see more of Meryl on-set soon!

"Mommy & Me" scrapped

Well, on the heels of the announcement that Meryl may be joining Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank in The Homesman, Entertainment Weekly is reporting in their new issue that Mommy & Me has officially been put on the shelf...at least for now. Tina Fey was quoted as saying "the script went through a lot of permutations and almost got made and then didn't." I'm disappointed about this, but like I said in my post yesterday, we really haven't heard any real news on this is quite a while. As a big fan of Tina Fey, it would've been great to see her and Meryl team up. Now that August: Osage County (sort of my dream movie with Streep) is happening, I really have no future cause for complaints as it pertains to Meryl's involvement in certain projects. As a consummate pessimist, I'll just continue to assume that rumors are indeed rumors until I hear "rolling."

Meryl linked to new film "The Homesman"

I came across an article last night ("came across" when google searching Meryl news) which indicates a possible re-teaming of Meryl with Tommy Lee Jones in a period Western entitled The Homesman.   This was complete news to me.   The film would be adapted from the 1988 novel by Glendon Swarthout.  It takes place on the American frontier in the mid 19th century, where a pair of pioneers traverse the young continent to consign a handful of "insane" women to the east coast, where care would evidently be more appropriate.  Tommy Lee Jones would play the "homesman" hired by Mary Bee Cuddy (rumored to be played by Hilary Swank) to helm the journey.  The article did not indicate which role Meryl would be playing in the film if she were indeed to officially join the cast, but the role of an insane woman being trekked across the Wild West would present its own unique challenges I'm sure.

It's funny that I found this yesterday because I've been so obsessed with Meryl's current project August: Osage County that I hadn't given much thought to what she may consider shooting next year.  We still don't have any concrete details on whether or not Mommy & Me with Tina Fey is happening.  I really hope it does.  That would seem like the the type of film which may not take three months to shoot.  Meryl in a supporting role in The Homesman, although the film's production could be on a grand scale, may not require a huge amount of time for her either.  Then there's always the possibility of Into the Woods, which I think can barely be considered a rumor at this point.  Regardless, it's fun to read some news of possible future projects.

Filming underway for "August: Osage County"

We're three days into shooting.  Someone on the Julia Roberts forum posted that one of the first scenes to be shot takes place at a local hospital.  Apparently it's a funny scene with the three daughters discussing their mother with a doctor.  Realizing that they're likely shooting out of sequence, I'm guessing this scene may be the one at the beginning of Act Three in the play.  Violet (Meryl) has seen a doctor about her pill addiction and the three girls are chatting about it.  Barbara (Julia) recalls the time that her mother smuggled Darvocet into the psych ward by hiding it in her vagina.  The forum poster remarked that the scene is a "great showcase for Julia."  That may be, but if I'm right and this scene is indeed the one I mentioned from act three, then Roberts would basically be trading an equal number of lines with her two sisters (Juliette Lewis and Julianne Nicholson)...and the entire conversation is about Meryl's character.   Of course in the play this scene takes place at the house, but things will no doubt get changed a bit for the big screen.

George Clooney has been obliging the locals with pictures, and I happened to find this pic of Ewan McGregor as "Bill" on the Meryl Streep forum.  I don't know who the dude on the right is.   I'll be very interested to see how they physically portray Meryl as Violet.  Stay tuned.

Julianne Nicholson revealed as "Ivy"

Um, finally.  Theater Mania released an article yesterday revealing that Julianne Nicholson has been cast as Ivy in August: Osage County.  I know.  Who?  She's mostly known for her television work like Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Boardwalk Empire.  She's done a few small parts in films such as Kinsey and (omg) One True Thing.  Nicholson certainly looks the part of mousy Ivy.  Talk about the break of a lifetime, considering how high-profile the rest of this cast is.   It hasn't been officially announced, but evidently screenwriter Tracy Wells casually mentioned her at a meet and greet for a new Broadway production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.   I'm guessing it'll come out in a more formal way once shooting starts Monday.  But I think we can consider this confirmed. 

Of course I've noticed how the three sisters cast in this film are named Julia, Juliette and Julianne.  I enjoy how New York Daily News coined it the "Jul Box." Something else I noticed when I read the article on Theater Mania is that last week on the same website, it was announced that Nicholson would be unable to complete the extended run of (of all people) Sam Shepard's play Heartless because of "prior commitments."  Indeed.  Here's where we are on casting:

Violet Weston: Meryl Streep (confirmed)
Barbara Fordham: Julia Roberts (confirmed)
Charlie Aiken: Chris Cooper (confirmed)
Karen Weston: Juliette Lewis (confirmed)
Jean Fordham: Abigail Breslin (confirmed)
Beverly Weston: Sam Shepard (confirmed)
Mattie Fae Aiken: Margo Martindale (confirmed)
Steve Heidebrecht: Dermot Mulroney (confirmed)
Little Charles Aiken: Benedict Cumberbatch (confirmed)
Johnna Monevata: Misty Upham (confirmed)
Bill Fordham: Ewan McGregor (confirmed)
Ivy Weston: Julianne Nicholson (confirmed)

All we have left is the pivotal role of Sheriff Deon Gilbeau.

Oscar race update

I know, I know, it's September.  Looking past the obvious reservations some may have at prognosticating about what mood the collective minds of voting members in the AMPAS will be in around January, I'd like to share my thoughts about the current "state of the race."   When I  last posted on this topic,  I  guessed Meryl would fall anywhere from sixth to eighth in the run for an Oscar nomination.  As of today, with updated predictions on Gold Derby from "experts" this week,  I probably have to keep her in the same slot.  I've been regularly perusing the scratchy comments from the rabid divas on Awards Daily Forums, and with some interesting points being made on the "best actress" thread, I thought Meryl's chances may be better than I had originally predicted.  But I think Gold Derby tends to be a little more accurate come awards season, and it's probably because they mostly predict safe bets at this point.  Again, we have four months before Oscar nominations come out (and for the first time before the Globes), so plenty can change.  Meryl may be an afterthought in six weeks, or she may firmly solidify herself in some top five lists.  In fine pessimistic tradition, I think her chances at an 18th nomination for Hope Springs this year are dubious.

In beginning my lazy scouting of Meryl's competition, last night I dragged Joe to Beasts of the Southern Wild.  I have to admit, Quevenzhane Wallis was superb.  As a caveat to that statement however, I'd categorize the performance as superb for a nine year-old (she may be ten now, whatev).  It's a hard sell for me to believe that someone that young is really making organic and skilled acting choices.  I wonder how much of what I saw was from the director's point of view...a sort of "puppeteering" rather than an individual characterization from the actor.  The question makes including Wallis's performance in the Academy Awards conversation a bit of an enigma for me.   Regardless, Joe and I both enjoyed the film.  Although I found it at times fantastically gross, I left with an overall sentiment of family and community preservation.  And yes, a great impression if its young lead.  

Accents Mastered updated

Ok, I was reading a few scenes tonight from the August: Osage County play script (because I'm an obsessive freak) and I was remembering reading a recent tweet which stated that Benedict Cumberbatch was having difficulty getting into the dialect of an Oklahoman.  Shocking that someone born and raised in London might struggle with such a drawl.  It made me think about how natural it'll probably come to Meryl, assuming it would be similar to her accent in Silkwood.   Then I remembered that I had listed in my previous Accents Mastered post that as Karen Silkwood, Meryl donned a "rural-Oklahoman" accent.  Having looked up Karen Silkwood, I recalled that she was actually born and raised in Texas.  It's therefore unlikely that as a reasonably young adult she didn't retain something more of a Texan accent.  I don't really even know what that would be, but Nederland, Texas is on the eastern border of the state, and I doubt folks from that "neck of the woods" sounded exactly like Oklahomans.

Therefore, I've updated her accent in Silkwood to "Texan."  Also, since filming on August: Osage County is set to begin one week from today, I thought I'd include this film in the updated version.  You may be wondering how I can consider this an "accent mastered" when they haven't even begun shooting.  Well, I've seen the play, and they all have Oklahoman accents, so I think there's about a .01% chance that Meryl will not have one in this film, and an even slimmer chance that she won't "master" it.    

The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979)--Tennessean
The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)--British (specifically Received Pronunciation)
Sophie's Choice (1982)--Polish (in English and German)
Silkwood (1983)--Texan
Plenty (1985)--British
Out of Africa (1985)--Danish
Ironweed (1987)--Irish-American
A Cry in the Dark (1988)--New Zealand (with strong layers of Australian)
The Bridges of Madison County (1995)--Italian (Meryl calls it Iowatalian)
Dancing at Lughnasa (1998)--Irish
Angels in America (2003)--Yiddish and Bronx (in separate roles)
A Prairie Home Companion (2006)--Midwestern
Doubt (2008)--Bronx
Julie & Julia (2009)--Boston Brahmin
The Iron Lady (2011)--British (again Received Pronunciation)
August: Osage County (2013)--Oklahoman