We’re in for a special treat today, as Entertainment Weekly reveals a new cover featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep, a lengthy interview with the cast of the crew as well as a half-hour table interview – all to be found on their website: In a 36th floor meeting room at New York’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel in early December, writer-director Adam McKay is telling lies about Meryl Streep to Leonardo DiCaprio ahead of a star-studded Around the Table panel for his just-released movie Don’t Look Up. “The crazy thing is that she does DJ sets at the ESPN Zone in Times Square three nights a week,” says the Big Short filmmaker to an amused DiCaprio, who is sitting between McKay and his pregnant Don’t Look Up costar Jennifer Lawrence. “What I respect is that she still uses decks,” adds Jonah Hill, joining in the improvisational fun. “She’s digging in the crates. She mashed-up AC/DC and Ludacris!” Streep herself is also present and breaks off chatting with Tyler Perry (hey, we told you this panel was star-studded!) to tongue-in-cheekedly growl her response to this entertaining nonsense. “I know a lot more about DJ-ing than you people think!” says the triple Oscar-winner. The ease with which these panelists riff with each other is a holdover from the making of the film, which McKay directed with his usual improv-encouraging style, and the bonds they formed during its production in the pre-vaccine pandemic. As McKay says, “This was a movie like no other movie I’ve ever been involved in. I actually get moved about how we all rallied together.”

STREEP: I found it really hard. I didn’t feel funny in the lockdown. When I would come in to shoot my stuff, [I’d] get out of the car and hadn’t spoken to anybody in three weeks. [I’d] walk into the stadium in Worcester, put on the wig and the nails and the suit, and make a speech to all these people. I just lost it. I forgot how to act, I forgot what I was about. It sort of dismantles your humanity, to be isolated like that. But thank god for Jonah, because he kept us laughing [Streep is informed by EW’s audio engineer that her microphone has fallen off dress]

HILL: Dude, you interrupted the part where she was saying I was sick! What the f—?

MCKAY: Alright, Meryl, pick it up from saying, “Jonah was a joy who brought us all together.”

STREEP: Jonah was a f—ing nightmare and ruined everything of mine and if I work again, it’s a miracle.

Lots and lots of updates today as the promotional tour for “Don’t Look Up” has been in full swing. On Monday, there were two additional press conferences / Q&As in New York, hosted by the Critics Choice and the Paris Theatre. Apparently, there was a third Q&A on Sunday, but I haven’t figured out where this took place (if you know more, drop me a line :-) On Tuesday, Meryl and Jonah Hill were guests on The Today Show. Netflix has released a big batch of character posters for the film. Additionally, more pictures from the New York premiere as well as from Broadway’s re-opening of “Slave Play” have been added to the photo gallery.

Moving on to the videos, new interviews from the premiere, with Entertainment Tonight have been added. Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl participated in a virtual press junket for the film, with a first clip being posted and hopefully many more to follow. Then, videos from the mentioned press conferences and from the Today Show appearance have been added as well. All updates are listed below. Enjoy all the new clips and pictures.

Fantastic news to look forward to this Sunday. Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio and director Adam McKay talk about the Netflix production “Don’t Look Up”, their careers and more in an interview with correspondent Tracy Smith for “CBS Sunday Morning,” to be broadcast December 5 on CBS and streamed on Paramount+. The film has an all-star cast and revolves around a scientist (DiCaprio) trying to warn the world that a comet is heading toward Earth and will destroy the planet. Streep plays the president who won’t take him seriously. The comet is a metaphor for climate change with the world split between believers and skeptics. But can a movie make a difference? “Hopefully,” DiCaprio told Smith. “But at this point, I’m a Debbie Downer with the system. So, you’re asking the wrong guy. To me, it’s about a little less, you know, conversation, and a lot more action.” The film was shot at the height of the pandemic’s impact on the entire world, which made it more meaningful to DiCaprio: “And that’s why it connected with this screenplay that was about the climate crisis that we’re all going to go through – we’re all going to feel the ramifications of this,” he said. “And what we’re seeing right now, with the wildfires and the massive hurricanes and all these catastrophes, doesn’t get better than this, okay? … It doesn’t get better than this. It slowly becomes worse.” Edit: You can now watch the full segment below and in the video archive, while screencaptures have been uploaded to the photo gallery.

Netflix has released the full trailer for the upcoming “Don’t Look Up”, and it looks like we’re in for a very entertaining ride this Christmas Day. Two upcoming screenings for the film have been announced to take place in Los Angeles on November 17 and 18, which will be followed by Q&As attended by Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence. Alongside the trailer, we also have the full synopsis and official poster.

Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem – it’s on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to care. Turns out warning mankind about a planet-killer the size of Mount Everest is an inconvenient fact to navigate. With the help of Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), Kate and Randall embark on a media tour that takes them from the office of an indifferent President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her sycophantic son and Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill), to the airwaves of The Daily Rip, an upbeat morning show hosted by Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry). With only six months until the comet makes impact, managing the 24-hour news cycle and gaining the attention of the social media obsessed public before it’s too late proves shockingly comical — what will it take to get the world to just look up?!

On September 18, 1981, United Artists released “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”, in which a 32-year-old Meryl Streep played her first leading role in a motion picture. Two leading roles to be fair, since the story depicts John Fowles’ novel not only as a straight-forward adaptation, but as an embedded film within a film that portrays the lead actors’ laissez faire fling on a movie while performing the tightlipped Victorian romance between a palaeontologist and a social outcast – a contrast on how social perception or acceptance on infidelity has changed over the years, at least 40 years ago. “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” is a curious film, a drama for grown-ups, and a very odd choice for Streep’s first leading role. After her breakthrough years and an Academy Award in 1980, an All-American role like “Silkwood” would have seemed a more logical fit to hone a movie star image. But Streep, giving us a first taste of her transformative craft that would stun audiences in the many years to come, immersed herself into the British landscape and created two very unique performances in one film.

Instead of writing a long essay on the film’s anniversary I’ll rather guide you through the extensive collection of information, pictures and articles we have amassed over the last years. Have a look at the box on the left for shortcuts. I’ll give you my top takeaways anyway: The film was a critical and commercial success, receiving 11 BAFTA nominations with three wins, inlcuding Best Actress for Streep. She also won the Golden Globe as Best Actress Drama and received her third Academy Award nomination in four years, the first as Best Actress, which was awarded to Katharine Hepburn. Streep was not the first choice for the part – Fowles’ personal choice was Helen Mirren. But the studio deemed her unsuitable, thanks to the recent release of the notorious “Caligula”. Even more surprisingly, this was Jeremy Irons’ first leading role as well, and only his second motion picture.

If you want to treat yourself with an anniverary viewing today and don’t own the DVD, you can check out if it’s available to stream in your region. If you want to share your thoughts on the film, head over to Twitter for comments and selected pictures.

In the first official look at the Netflix comedy Don’t Look Up, starring DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, the teaser trailer centers its story around DiCaprio’s character having a panic attack ahead of an Oval Office meeting after uncovering an Armageddon-like revelation. Don’t Look Up tells the story of two low-level astronomers, played by DiCaprio and Lawrence, who must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet earth. The star-studded movie is written and directed by Adam McKay, the filmmaker behind the Oscar-nominated movies Vice and The Big Short. Mark Rylance, Ron Perlman, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi), Himesh Patel, Melanie Lynskey, Michael Chiklis and Tomer Sisley round out the cast. The teaser trailer only runs for one minute and 18 seconds, but prompts several chuckles as Kate Dibiasky (Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (DiCaprio) set an infuriating White House meeting with a room of indifferent government officials, including those played by Hill and Meryl Streep, to explain their dire discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. Don’t Look Up hits select theaters Dec. 10 and releases on Netflix on Dec. 24. With the release of the trailer, three brand new production stills featuring Meryl have been published as well.

Over the last weeks, I have worked behind the scenes on the career pages to make them more functional and easier to browse. Meryl Streep’s career is a massive task to cover, and yet it’s one of my favorite parts of the site, since it’s not only films, but heaps of documentaries, television specials and narration work. Plus, we have been able to source pretty much all of her 50 plus theatre performances since her time at Vassar College with lots of rare pictures and posters. So, let me introduce some nifty new functions: Each career site has been updated with full cast and crew information and shortcuts to the photo gallery, video archive and related reviews (there have been a lot with the ongoing magazine updates). You can check each project’s availablity on a wide array of streaming services in your country. Each page also comes with tags – so if you’re looking for similar work, you’ll find shortcuts like, for example, drama, based on a true story, and many more. Lastly, all career pages are connected with the chronology pages, so you can find all productions from a specific year listed by release. You can start by browsing the career main page with 12 subcategories and then lose yourself for a couple of days with over 330 productions to (re)discover :-). Enjoy browsing and check back tomorrow for a new Scan Sunday.

I wasn’t interested in doing a biopic on Anna; I was interested in her position in her company. I wanted to take on the burdens she had to carry, along with having to look nice every day. Absolute power corrupts absolutely…. I liked that there wasn’t any backing away from the horrible parts of her, and the real scary parts of her had to do with the fact that she didn’t try to ingratiate, which is always the female emollient in any situation where you want your way – what my friend Carrie Fisher used to call “the squeezy and tilty” of it all. [Miranda] didn’t do any of that. (Meryl Streep, Entertainment Weekly)

If looks could kill, then for 15 years The Devil Wears Prada has been a serial threat. Director David Frankel’s adaptation of Lauren Weisberger’s Faustian yarn – inspired by the author’s time working under Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour – emerged as a modern classic through its mélange of impossibly chic clothes, scorching dialogue, and pointed portrayal of women in power. In time, the movie has become a beacon for gender parity, too, with its ice-queen Runway editor Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) occupying a delectably unapologetic position of power in a male-dominated world and, as a Hollywood antihero, a rare kind of leading lady. The film struck a chord with its feminist-tinged, broadly appealing story, and has endured largely thanks to the spectacular chemistry among Streep, Anne Hathaway (who plays Miranda’s assistant-turned protegée Andy Sachs), and scene-stealers Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, and Adrian Grenier. For the first time since the film’s release in June 2006, EW has gathered those stars (and more) for a fierce reunion as they dig their heels into Devil’s legacy. You can watch the full 30 minutes reunion exclusively on Entertainment Weekly’s website.

Update: Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline will perform “Dear Elizabeth” at the Spotlight on Plays virtual benefit series from June 17 to June 21, 2021. Based on the compiled letters between poets Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop, Dear Elizabeth maps the relationship of the two poets from first meeting to an abbreviated affair – and the turmoil of their lives in between. Directed by Kate Whoriskey. Here’s the original press release from March: According to Deadline, Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker and Carla Gugino have joined the line-up of actors taking part in this year’s virtual Spotlight on Plays series benefitting The Actors Fund, with Streep reuniting with her Sophie’s Choice co-star Kevin Kline on Sarah Ruhl’s Dear Elizabeth. Parker is set to perform in Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz. Gugino will be teamed with the previously announced Ellen Burstyn in Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine. Others previously announced, in addition to Kline and Burstyn, are Kathryn Hahn, Keanu Reeves, Debbie Allen, Bobby Cannavale, Audra McDonald, Phylicia Rashad, Heidi Schreck, Alia Shawkat, Heather Alicia Simms and Alicia Stith. The Spotlight on Plays series, launched last year on the Broadway’s Best Shows website, features actors performing the works remotely, with the readings pre-recorded and edited. The series, which begins Thursday, benefits The Actors Fund. The series begins Thursday, March 25, with Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play at 8pm ET/5pm PT, and continues wit Pearl Cleage’s Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous on Thursday, April 8 at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Additional casting and dates will be announced soon. The Spotlight on Plays events are livestreamed on Stellar and available for a strictly limited amount of time. Season subscriptions and individual ticket information is available on the Broadway’s Best Shows website. Many thanks to Glenn and Alvaro for the heads-up.

We can count ourselves quite blessed when it comes to Meryl Streep’s recent appearances – with her fourth and fifth tribute video within four weeks – even though they are “just” online. On Monday, she opened the Physicians for Human Rights Virtual Celebration Gala in honor of health and human rights heroes on May 16. And yesterday, the Virtual Night of Covenant House Stars took place, as previously reported. As they write for the tribute segment, “our young people at Covenant House have incredible star power. And their light shines even more brightly when their stories are shared by Hollywood’s finest: Morgan Freeman, Meryl Streep, and Jon Hamm. Listen in as these great actors share letters from Elijah, Stephanie, and Allan in New Orleans, Georgia, and Missouri, respectively, youth who are taking the next steps in their lives toward becoming an artist, a parent, and a computer tech expert”. This segment is introduced by the iconic Dionne Warwick and performed by Broadway superstar Stephanie J. Block. Both videos, as well as screencaptures have been added to the archives.