Rolling Stone has interviewed the funniest man alive (Albert Brooks) on his heavenly film’s 25th anniversary (Defending Your Life). While this is a film I constantly forget that Meryl Streep was in, Rolling Stone shares some great stories on the film’s making and how Meryl Streep got (herself) the part:

I met Meryl Streep at a party years and years and years ago. I think it was at Carrie Fisher’s house. Meryl brought so much reputation to her life because of all these iconic roles, but when you met her, she was just so easygoing and natural. She was aware of my work, and she asked what I was doing. I told her I was making this movie, and she sort of jokingly said, “Is there a part in it for me?” I went home and thought, “Okay…” It took a lot more from the producers to make that happen, but the person that I wanted for that role was the person that I sat and talked to at that party. So my job was to provide an environment where she could just hang out. She’s the greatest character actress that ever lived, and she didn’t get a lot of opportunities just to hang out, so that’s what I thought could be great. She’s playing somebody who’s had a perfect life, and she automatically brings to that someone who is as close as you could get, someone who seemingly has had a perfect life. So all of that worked.

The idea behind Defending Your Life: Imagine if you had to sit in a courtroom and watch your life. I don’t care who you are, if you committed a crime and you had to have all of your emails searched and made public, who on this planet could survive that? Nobody. Who hasn’t written some angry email to somebody at 11:30 at night that, if read in court, would make you want to kill yourself? But the interesting thing about Defending Your Life is that it’s been 25 years and if you look at it on Amazon, it always sells at the same rate. And that makes me feel pretty good, because I don’t think this is aging too much. I think what the movie is saying is going to stay relevant for a long, long time, because fear isn’t going away. The complete article can be read over at Rolling Stone.

In this week’s Scan Sunday we circle around the Netherlands, Belgium and France and then wide away to the United States with four great cover stories. Articles range from 1979 to 1997 and give a great spotlight on Meryl’s television work in “Holocaust” and “First Do No Harm”. There are also two articles from 1983 on her recent Oscar win for “Sophie’s Choice”. Many thanks to Fred and Alvaro for their contributions. If you’d like to have scans from a specific country being featured next week, just drop a line in the comments section.

A new documentary featuring Meryl Streep will premiere tomorrow on HBO. Jacob Bernstein, son of Carl Bernstein and Nora Ephron, directs this film about his mother – who died in 2012 at the age of 71 – as seen through the eyes of her closest friends and some surviving family members. Part “American Masters” portrait, part personal quest, this film explores the life and death of the person who wrote three era-defining movies – Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle. A preview from the documentary can be watched in the video archive.

This week’s Scan Sunday brings four great cover story from European magazines – Italy’s Superflash from 1988, France’s Voici from 1989, Germany’s Frau im Spiegel from 1994 (a special report on the story behind Out of Africa, featuring many rare pictures of Karen Blixen and Denys Fynch Hatton) and Belgium’s Teleknack. Many thanks to Fred and Alvaro for their contributions. Click any of the previews below to launch the new scans and enjoy reading.

Today, the full trailer for the UK release of “Florence Foster Jenkins” has been launched, featuring lots of new scenes, but still no hint at Jenkins’ infamous voice. I’m wondering if it’s just kept for further promotion or if we have to wait to “witness it in the theatre”. The trailer can be found in the video archive with screencaptures being added to the photo gallery.

In case you have ever wondered, like me, if Simply Streep has found every magazine that has ever run an article on Meryl Streep, you’re wrong. Some time last year a fan from Canada, Fred Meandro, contacted me, offering a large collection of covers and articles (those kinds of emails you just wish to happen). With the help of my friend and fellow contributor Alvaro, we’ve been able to get hold of a massive collection of very rare articles and cover stories which has been sorted and digitized. This collection is too precious to just put it out in one update, so why not turn it into a new feature? Every Sunday from now on, a couple of those new magazine scans will be posted here for your reading pleasure. Let’s start with four magazines from the United States, Italy, Germany and Belgium. Many thanks to Alvaro for his wonderful support on these new finds.

Theatre Workshop of Nantucket announced today that three-time Academy Award winner and 19-time Academy Award nominee Meryl Streep will appear at a special benefit cabaret Saturday, July 30 at the Nantucket Hotel. The evening will pay tribute to TWN’s 60 years of performing on the island. “On With The Show – A 60th Anniversary Cabaret” will feature theater songs and stories starring Streep; John Shea, TWN’s artistic director emeritus; and actor/director Joe Grifasi, who will recreate the cabaret group they formed while classmates at Yale. Individual tickets for the cabaret will be available March 15 through the TWN box office. Article courtesy The Inquirer and Mirror.

An all-star fundraiser has been announced for legendary keyboardist Bernie Worrell, who is a founding member of Funkadelic and who has worked with the Talking Heads, Fela Kuti, Mos Def and others. Worrell was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. The benefit will take place in NYC at Webster Hall on April 4 with all-star guests like George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Living Color, Rick Springfield, Paul Shaffer, Maceo Parker, BIll Laswell, Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison, B-52s’ Fred Schneider and many more, including filmmaker Johnathan Demme and actress Meryl Streep, who worked with Worrell on last year’s movie Ricki and the Flash. Tickets for that show are now on sale. Thanks to Glenn for the heads-up.

Following last week’s fantastic teaser trailer, Pathé is pleased to present the official main poster for “Florence Foster Jenkins” starring Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, Simon Helberg, Rebecca Ferguson and Nina Arianda. The comedy drama directed by Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Queen) tells the inspirational true story of the eponymous New York heiress who obsessively pursued her dream of becoming a great singer. The voice Florence (Streep) heard in her head was divine, but to the rest of the world it was hilariously awful. At private recitals, her devoted husband and manager, St Clair Bayfield (Grant), managed to protect Florence from the truth. The film celebrates the human spirit, the power of music and the passion of amateurs everywhere. “Florence Foster Jenkins” will be released in UK cinemas 6th May 2016.

“Suffragette” has been released on DVD, Blu-Ray and on demand in the United States on February 02. In case you haven’t seen it, make sure to grab your copy. Blu-Ray screencaptures of Meryl’s cameo performance as Emmeline Pankhurst have been added to the photo gallery with many thanks to Claudia for sending them in. The disc comes with several featurettes on the making of the film, an excerpt can be found in the video archive.