Meryl Streep goes full diva for ‘Prom’ role
As a Broadway musical, “The Prom” took a real-life incident about a lesbian whose school board ruled she couldn’t take her girlfriend to the prom, and fashioned a cheery fable about gay pride, empathy and, what else, showbiz.
For Netflix heavyweight producer and director Ryan Murphy (“American Horror Story,” “The Boys in the Band”), the stage show struck a personal nerve.
His all-star adaptation, streaming Friday, has Meryl Streep and James Corden as egocentric, ham-on-ham aging Broadway legends, Nicole Kidman and Andrew Rannells as their compatriots whose mission is to go to Indiana and get so much publicity for the high school senior (and themselves!) that the verdict will be reversed and everyone can be happy.
“I think it spoke to me because I wished when I was young I had a film like this to see. I wish when I was growing up I didn’t feel so alone,” Murphy, 55, said.
“When I first saw the musical I deeply related to it. I also was from Indiana. I was searching for a community, a place to belong. And I loved that the musical was about something: the fight to be seen and be included in the conversation.”
“I mean, well, it was such a STRETCH playing someone so vain,” Streep began with a raucous laugh.
“A big fat narcissist. I don’t know where I pulled it from. Because I am all of those things probably — but I am not a diva and those are big shoes for me.
“I loved playing someone who walks in and thinks she owns the room but of course she doesn’t.”
Her look definitely says Chita Rivera meets Shirley MacLaine. Did she steal from others?
“Oh yes, all my friends. Not just the women needless to say. The biggest divas are playing for the other team. The most fun was sitting around having laughs in-between shots.”
Keegan-Michael Key (“Dolemite Is My Name”) is the Indiana high school principal, a forever fan of Streep’s Dee Dee Allen. As he spoke about working intimately with “The Greatest Actress of Her Generation,” Streep, on Zoom like everyone else, made a gag-me face and plunked her head, face first, on her desk.
“I’m a sports guy!” he exclaimed, “So I have to compare you to Tom Brady.”
“I hope I’m not deflated!” Streep responded.
Added Murphy, “It’s a wonderful film for Netflix where 200 million people around the world can see this, including countries where you can be killed to be gay.”
(“The Prom” streams on Netflix Friday.)
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2JXJeSH
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