Actor Jim Broadbent has talked to New Magazine to promote Mike Leigh’s latest film “Another Year” – and also spoke about the upcoming “The Iron Lady”. Very exciting! The full article and interview can be read at the NYmag’s website. According to Broadbent, shooting of “The Iron Lady” will start on late January.

I think years ago a film about Thatcher was attempted, and they had a phone-in vote on a BBC morning news program: “Who do you think should play Margaret Thatcher?” And Meryl actually came out on top! I think it’s perceived that Thatcher needs a star, really, and she’s perfect casting in many ways. She’s got a good look, and she’ll absolutely do it in a brilliant way. She’s also got an interesting eye on the script: She can bring an outsider’s view on the story, so that it won’t become a lazy, parochial piece that Brits understand but where nobody else really knows what’s going on. She can ask the questions that foreign audiences will ask.

I wanted to do a year in review ever since I started Simply Streep – but somehow it took me eleven years to actually write one. So with great joy, here’s 2010 in review with lots of pictures, links – and memories – to let the year, Meryl-wise, live up once again.

In a recent article with The Times, actor Richard E. Grant mentioned his involvement with the upcoming “The Iron Lady”. Shooting is stated to begin January 2011.

When I’m back from Africa I start filming The Iron Lady – I’m playing Michael Heseltine and Meryl Streep is playing Margaret Thatcher – and the good news is that it’s being made here in Britain.

Here’s an early Christmas present to you. On December 05, British ITV1 had a 90 minutes television special on “The Nation’s Favourite ABBA song”, a countdown of the Swedish group’s music hits, as voted by the British public. The programme was accompanied by interviews with Bjorn and Frida, collaborators, celebrity fans – as well as Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Julie Walters, reflecting on shooting the movie version of the musical “Mamma Mia” (Meryl’s remarks were filmed back in 2008 for “The South Bank Show”). With many thanks to the great Alvaro, a video excerpt as well as captures from the programme have been added to the site. Enjoy watching!

Article courtesy The Family Kitchen blog: Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and accompanying TV shows inspired a new perspective toward cooking in the sixties. In book and hit movie, Julie & Julia, Meryl Streep reintroduced Julia Child to the masses, reminding us how much we love her. But as with any well-known public figure, there’s the on-air persona everyone gets to see, and presumably the personal life everyone wants a peek into. “As Always, Julia”, a collection of around 200 letters exchanged between Julia and Avis DeVoto, her friend and unofficial literary agent (introduced in the movie) allow us a peek into Julia’s thoughts and feelings. Their correspondence, in print for the first time, reminds me of a time when letters were a key means of communication, pre- cell phones, email, facebook and twitter. I do miss letters.

In As Always, Julia we get to follow the bringing to life of Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a frank, funny, agonizing way as Julia, beginning as a new bride in Paris, follows her diplomat husband as he is transferred between Nice, Germany, and Norway. There are wonderful, real photos of Julia in her home and on holiday. There’s commentary by the famed food historian Joan Reardon, addressing political, social and gastronomic issues throughout. For those who love to curl up in bed with a good cookbook, this read will go further – like a good novel, reality TV and a cookbook rolled into one. The book has been released on December 1, 2010 and can be ordered – at Amazon – and other know sources.

I haven’t posted magazine scans in a while, haven’t I? Here’s a new batch of articles, ranging from 1986 to 2010, all contributed by the wonderful Alvaro. A preview and complete list is below. Enjoy reading!

Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1986 > US (USA, January 1986)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1986 > US (USA, January 1986)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1980 > 7 Heurs (Canada, April 1992)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1982 > 7 Heurs (Canada, September 1992)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1983 > 7 Heurs (Canada, October 1994)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1983 > New York Magazine (USA, October 1994)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1984 > Ditjes & Datjes (Netherlands, January 2010)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1990 > Sky Movies (United Kingdom, November 2010)

Here’s a real treat from the past – a video of Meryl Streep winning the Golden Globe in 1983 as Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for “Sophie’s Choice”. Meryl wasn’t present to pick her Golden Globe (as she wasn’t the two times before, winning for “Kramer vs. Kramer” and “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”), but her co-star Kevin Kline was, who accepted the award on her behalf.

Many thanks to Equality Now for bringing this to my attention. In a new online video PSA, Meryl Streep talks about Equality Now’s efforts on behalf of women and girls around the world. The video can be watched on Youtube and in the video archive. Be sure to watch :-)

On November 12, 2010, Indiana University hosted “An Evening of Conversation with Jane Pauley and Meryl Streep”. The program, which was free and open to the public, featured an introduction by IU’s first lady Laurie Burns McRobbie followed by a discussion between Pauley and Streep and concluded with a question and answer session with questions submitted by audience members. Pictures from the event can be found in the Image Library – a complete video of the conversation can be found at the IU’s official website. This is really a wonderful conversation to watch and listen to, a very insightful talk on acting and living, so be sure to watch it.

Various British sources have reported on current funding news for “The Iron Lady”, sounding quite negative, most probably due to the original negative statements by the Daily Telegraph. According to the Guardian, the UK Film Council’s last large-scale donations has been to the forthcoming Margaret Thatcher biopic, The Iron Lady, which was awarded £1m in October. Some see the move as an 11th-hour snook cocked at the Conservatives who, if rumours surrounding the script are to believed, may not welcome the project. Tim Walker of the Daily Telegraph reports that Thatcher’s family were “appalled” by the sound of the film, which apparently involves the former prime minister reassessing her career with some regret after the death of her husband, Denis, and while she is suffering from dementia. “They think it sounds like some left-wing fantasy,” Walker quotes a friend of the family as saying. Pathé, who are producing the film, insist it will be made with “appropriate sensitivity”. Meryl Streep plays Thatcher, and will be reunited with her Mamma Mia! director Phyllida Lloyd. Jim Broadbent is Denis, while Olivia Colman takes on the role of their daughter, Carol. To be fair, these quotations were published some time back by the Telegraph, quoting “a friend of the family” at a state when the script was probably not seen by anyone except those who were working on it, so let’s see if the negative press will keep up on “The Iron Lady” once it goes into production in early 2011.