Award-winning actress Meryl Streep sent a letter Tuesday to each member of Congress, asking them to restore the Equal Rights Amendment. “I am writing to ask you to stand up for equality-for your mother, your daughter, your sister, your wife or yourself-by actively supporting the Equal Rights Amendment”, the letter read. Streep has been publicly rallying for equality all year. The actress clapped and cheered her fellow nominee Patricia Arquette in her acceptance speech at the Oscars after she won the best supporting actress award. This proposed revision to the United States Constitution that would guarantee equal rights for women has been in negotiation for over four decades. Written in 1920, the amendment was introduced unsuccessfully in every legislative year in Congress from 1923 until it was finally passed in 1972. Thirty-five states ratified the amendment, but 38 states need to do so in order for it to be added to the Constitution. Perhaps she was inspired by her role in the upcoming movie Suffragette, in which she plays activist Emmeline Pankhurst, who helped women get the vote in Britain.

More Magazine has scored what they call “the interview of a lifetime”. When Meryl Streep visited the White House for an intimate conversation with First Lady Michelle Obama, they dug deep into the topics that accomplished women talk, worry and wonder about – Power. Passions. Work. Mothers. And Sting. Excerpts from the interview can be read on More’s website. Read the full article in the July/August 2015 issue, on newsstands June 23. Scans have been added to the photo gallery, with many thanks to Joan!

Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant were pictured together by the Liverpool Echo for the first time since they arrived in Liverpool to shoot their latest movie. As seen in their on-set pictures, Liverpool looks incredible as it doubles up as America for the much-anticipated film. Streep plays the New York heiress and socialite Florence Foster Jenkins, who obsessively pursued her dream of becoming an opera singer, despite a terrible singing voice. Grant takes on the role of her supportive partner and manager St. Clair Bayfield, who was determined to protect his beloved Florence from the truth.

Just a couple of days after the trailers for “Suffragette”, yet another new look at one of Meryl’s upcoming films have been released. Sony has launched the UK trailer for “Ricki and the Flash”, featuring quite a few new scenes from the Jonathan Demme directed comedy, in which Kevin Kline and Mamie Gummer co-star. Additionally, screencaptures have been added to the photo gallery.

Edit: The US theatrical trailer has been launched as well and can be watched here. The full theatrical trailer for “Suffragette” has been released yesterday, and it gives us a powerful look at the film and Carey Mulligan in what seems to be an outstanding performance! There’s plenty of Meryl as well, but since her role has been labeled as a cameo, let’s hope there’s more than these bits. Head over to the video archive for the trailer. Many thanks to everybody for the heads-up. Also, according to Variety, “Suffragette” will open this year’s London Film Festival. Mulligan, Streep and Helena Bonham Carter will be on the red carpet on Oct. 7 at the Odeon Leicester Square for the film’s European premiere, as well as other members of the cast, who include Brendan Gleeson, Anne-Marie Duff and Ben Whishaw.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, the first still from the upcoming “Florence Foster Jenkins” shows Meryl Streep as the notedly awful warbler cuddling up to Hugh Grant (playing her husband and manager, St. Clair Bayfield) in the back of a car and both dressed in their finest. Streep clutches a brochure for Carnegie Hall, where Jenkins famously sang to a sold out crowd in 1944 having become a huge draw for countless “fans” who appreciated her appalling sense of rhythm and pitch. The film also stars Simon Helberg, Rebecca Ferguson and Nina Arianda.

Theatre East and Yale Alumni Association of New York will present Elizabeth Parrish with the Laurette Taylor Award on Thursday, May 28th at Ramscale Studio South, 463 West Street, in the West Village Highline district, NYC. The benefit starts at 7pm with an exclusive cocktail reception, followed by dinner at 8pm. The award will be presented to Ms. Parrish by Kate Mulgrew. The ceremony will include tributes by alumna Meryl Streep and the Stella Adler Studio’s Artistic Director, Tom Oppenheim. Ms. Streep, who studied under Ms. Parrish at Yale, has publicly credited Ms. Parrish’s teachings in connection to her performance as the Witch in the recent film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Into The Woods. The complete press release can be read here.

The Criterion Collection will be releasing “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” among its selected titles on August 11, 2015. This wouldn’t be big news (except maybe to aknowledge that this is the first Streep film to be released from the Criterion Collection after “Fantastic Mr. Fox”), if it wasn’t for the special features that this new edition will include. Besides the trailer, there will be interviews with actors Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep, editor John Bloom, and composer Carl Davis as well as the 1981 episode of “The South Bank Show” featuring director Karel Reisz, novelist John Fowles, and screenwriter Harold Pinter (and, as much as I’m concerned, a vintage interview with Meryl as well). For more information, visit The Criterion Collection. Many thanks to Glenn for the heads-up.

Pathé announced in a press release that principal photography started today on “Florence Foster Jenkins”. The film will shoot for 10 weeks in the UK. The film will be directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Nicholas Martin. The cast is led by Meryl Streep as Florence with Hugh Grant playing her partner St Clair Bayfield. Other roles are played by Simon Helberg, Rebecca Ferguson and Nina Arianda. “Florence Foster Jenkins” is the true story of the legendary New York heiress and socialite who obsessively pursued her dream of becoming a great opera singer. The voice she heard in her head was beautiful, but to everyone else it was hilariously awful. Her “husband” and manager, St Clair Bayfield, an aristocratic English actor, was determined to protect his beloved Florence from the truth. But when Florence decided to give a public concert at Carnegie Hall in 1944, St Clair knew he faced his greatest challenge. Stephen Frears said “I think the script is terrific. God knows the cast are sensational. Now is the time to panic!” Many thanks to Glenn for the heads-up.

Today, Sony has launched the theatrical trailer of “Ricki and the Flash”. It looks pretty much exactly what fans have been hoping for, so head over to watch it in the video archive. Additionally, screencaptures from the trailer, the first poster for the film and a bunch of new production stills have been added as well.