According to Digital Spy, Peter Dinklage, Meryl Streep and Queer Eye’s Fab Five will lend their voices to Audible Original comedy show “Heads Will Roll”, a new workplace comedy. The show is created by Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon alongside sister Emily Lynne. It focuses on an evil queen who strives for peace and quiet, though is forced to take action when her reign is threatened by a peasant uprising. Queen Mortuana and her ditsy raven sidekick JoJo must then find the prophesied Shard of Acquiescence to crush the rebellion. Alongside Dinklage and Streep, the show will include the voices of Drag Race winner Bob the Drag Queen, Tim Gunn, Andrea Martin, Carol Kane, Audra McDonald, Aidy Bryant, Alex Moffat, Heidi Gardner, Chris Redd, Steve Higgins and Esther Perel. “Audible is committed to creating extraordinary, top-quality original audio content through thoughtful collaboration with leading innovators, creators and actors,” said David Blum, Editor in Chief of Audible Originals. “We are delighted to work with Broadway Video, masters of creative storytelling and comedy, to create this completely unexpected and genre-defying entertainment.” Dinklage and Streep shared a stage together in 2005 for the Charlie Kaufman’s stage production “Theater of the New Ear”. A premiere date has not been announced yet. Many thanks to Glenn for the heads-up.

Meryl Streep addressed her highly-anticipated role in Big Little Lies Season 2 for the first time during an appearance at the Television Critics Association press tour on Friday, teasing her character’s place on the show and what made her join the cast in the first place. “I loved this show, I was addicted to it,” Streep said of Season 1. “I thought it was an amazing exercise in what we know and what we don’t know about people, about family, about friends, how it flirted with the mystery of things. What was unsaid, unshown, unknown, was the gravitational pull of the piece. It was so exciting. When I got the chance to join the crew, I thought ‘Yeah!’ I wanted to be in that world. The world that was created was amazing.” Streep will play Mary Louise Wright, mother of the late Perry Wright (Alexander Skarsgård) and mother-in-law of Celeste (Nicole Kidman). “The dynamic between Celeste and me … Hmmm! I do love [Nicole], and I do love her. That’s the only thing I’ll tell you about my character,” Streep teased. She appeared at the TCA panel alongside BLL creator/write David E. Kelley and co-stars Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Zoe Kravitz, Shailene Woodley, and Laura Dern. Pictures from the TCA have been added to the photo gallery.

“Mary Poppins Returns” has been doing well at the box office over the Christmas days, grossing over $128 million so far on its $130 budget. The critical reception has been a mixed bag from very positive “instant classic” to “missing the original’s charm”. The film’s profile might be raised significantly if it wins Best Actress or even Best Picture Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes tonight. Earlier this week, “Mary Poppins Returns” was honored with the award for Best Ensemble at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Awards Gala. Meryl Streep was not present at the gala. “In this outstanding sequel, Mary Poppins is back to help the next generation of the Banks family as they race to keep the bank’s executives from foreclosing on their home,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner, according to Variety. “Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda lead an excellent ensemble cast that also includes Colin Firth, Meryl Streep, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury and many others.”

In January 1979, the “Holocaust” miniseries was broadcast for the first time in West Germany. The series – the first of its kind to cover the genocide during World War II to widespread public attention – was watched by 20 million people, or 50 percent of West Germany’s population. With an estimated viewership of up to 15 million households, the series turned out to be extremely popular during its initial airing, leading to an increased public interest in the crimes committed during the Nazi era. After each part of Holocaust was aired, there followed a companion show wherein a panel of historians answered questions from people phoning in. The historians’ panels were overwhelmed with thousands of phone calls from shocked and outraged Germans. By this time, “Holocaust” was already a critical success, earning 15 Primetime Emmy nominations with 8 wins, including for Outstanding Limited Series and for Meryl Streep’s performance as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series. To honor the series’ legacy, numerous German television stations will broadcast re-runs of “Holocaust” throughout January. The re-runs will be accompanied by a new documentary on the making of the series. Director Marvin J. Chomsky will be interviewed for the program alongside actors Michael Moriarty, Rosemary Harris and Blanche Baker. The documentary will be first aired on January 14, 2019, at 22.10pm on WDR. It will be also shown on NDR and SWR throughout January. If you haven’t seen the miniseries yet, here’s your chance to see a piece of television history. Edit: The documentary can be now watched on-demand in Germany. Unfortunately, while it’s a fantastic programme on the making of “Holocaust”, it features nothing on Meryl Streep except for a couple of scenes from the series.

Today, “Mary Poppins Returns” releases theaters in the United States and Europe, destined to dominate the Christmas box office of 2018 and probably the awards season of 2019 with a predicted Best Actress nomination for Emily Blunt. The reviews have been good so far, ranging from “it’s a new classic” to “it’s not a classic”, so I guess those interested in the film will get a chance to see where it ranks – starting today! Since this is probably the last update of Simply Streep for 2018, the release of the film would not be complete without a proper press coverage of reviews and articles on the film, including a nice cover story from Radio Times in the United Kingdom, as well as a cover story with Meryl in the latest issue of Yours. In America, you can grab a special edition of People Magazine, featuring exclusive interviews with Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Meryl Streep. There are also some “leftovers” from the “Mamma Mia” and “The Post” promotion from earlier this year. Many many thanks, as always, to Alvaro for providing the scans. To all the visitors of Simply Streep, I would like to wish you great Holidays and a good and healthy start into 2019! See you next year. Frederik :-)

Yesterday, Meryl Streep attended the London premiere for “Mary Poppins Returns”, which turns out to be the season’s most anticipated film, and, even more surprisingly, a serious awards contender for Best Picture and Best Actress. Many pictures have been added to the video archive. A video clip of Meryl being interviewed at the premiere can be found below.

Today, “Mary Poppins Returns” has received a whopping 9 nominations for the 24th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. A few things need to be said about the Critics Choice Awards – which are presented annually by the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) since 1995. In recent years, especially with its tv broadcast, their nominations have been “accused” of nominating as many stars as possible – splitting acting categories to “regular” acting, acting in comedy and action in action – and trying to predict the Academy Awards nominations by altering their slots every year to include as many possible front-runners as possible (this year, there are 7 nominations each for Best Actor and Actress). Now, this is in no way said to diminish the Critics’ Choice Awards or the number of nominations for “Mary Poppins Returns”, although 2 of the 9 nominations go to Emily Blunt in 2 in different performance categories, for the same performance. You probably get what I mean :-) The winners will be revealed at the star-studded Critics’ Choice Awards gala, broadcast live on The CW Network on Sunday, January 13, 2019 from 7:00 – 10:00 pm ET (delayed PT).

Best Picture
Best Actress – Emily Blunt
Best Production Design – John Myhre, Gordon Sim
Best Costume Design – Sandy Powell
Best Visual Effects
Best Actress in a Comedy – Emily Blunt
Best Song – The Place Where Lost Things Go
Best Song – Trip a Little Light Fantastic
Best Score – Marc Shaiman

The Golden Globe nominations have been announced today, and it’s been a good day for “Mary Poppins Returns”. While the film’s release is still two weeks ahead of us, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has nominated the Rob Marshall musical in three key categories: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Emily Blunt, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Lin-Manuel Miranda and Best Original Score – Motion Picture for Mark Shaiman. The Golden Globes will be handed out quite early next year, on January 06, 2019.

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Best Original Score

Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns doesn’t just mark the return of one indomitable character after 54 years; it also marks a reunion for two other powerful women who whip up certain magic together onscreen. Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep have now made three big-budget studio films together: 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada, playing a toiling assistant and her monstrous boss; 2014’s Into the Woods, as a peasant baker and the witch who cursed her womb; and now 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns, playing the enigmatic nanny and her gravity-challenged cousin Topsy, who’s perhaps the only person ever to disagree with Mary Poppins. “It is a bit hilarious that we always play people who are contentious with one another,” Blunt laughs, looking back on her relationship with Streep that’s now into its second decade. “From Prada to the Witch and the Baker’s Wife and now to cousins who drive each other insane, I did finally ask her, ‘When are we gonna play lovers or something?!’” Blunt laughs again. “She said, ‘Dream on.’”

But a dream is perhaps the best way to describe the friendship that has blossomed between the 35-year-old and the 69-year-old actors. On the Prada set, Blunt was a relative unknown in Hollywood with Streep a revered megastar — Blunt even cried when Streep first complimented her after wrapping. Years later, the tables have turned as Blunt now takes on the largest role of her career, with Streep supporting her with glee. “She’s divine,” Streep declares. Elaborating further, she almost downplays the magnitude of what it’s been like to watch Blunt grow into a role like Mary Poppins over the past decade. “I think Emily’s completely the same person that she was when I met her,” she insists. “In The Devil Wears Prada, she was some preposterously young age — I think she was 21? Ridiculous! — but she was completely the person that she is today. She was already a pretty fully-fledged grown up, or did a good impersonation of one.”

Lots of official promotion material for “Mary Poppins Returns” has been released by Disney Films over the last couple of days. There’s the official b-roll with lots of footage from behind the scenes, an interview with Meryl Streep on her character (she reveals her character’s full name, but I cannot understand it :-) can you?), two music videos from songs performed by Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda and an additional television spot. All videos can be found in the video archive. Screencaptures from the b-roll and the interview have been added to the photo gallery.