Meryl Streep Rewatches The Devil Wears Prada, Mamma Mia! & More | Vanity Fair

I didn't want that scene to end. It felt so good. Just over on that side of the thing, there were hippos, and they're the most dangerous animals in Africa. They're the ones who most often attack people. There was a moment where we had to stop because one of them came and roared, opened his mouth, and we beat a hasty retreat to lunch. Hi, I'm Meryl Streep. I'm here today watching some scenes from my movies for Vanity Fair. Needs a battery. That's what my grandchildren say. Needs a battery, Mimi. Oh God, Stellan. Oh my God. You can cut it off now, thank you. That's about all I can. That was shot in the historically rainiest summer London had ever experienced. We were shooting in Pinewood Studios. All the towns around us, including Oxford, were underwater, were flooded. It was the worst weather, and we would go to work and open the door to the great big Pinewood Studio, and there would be grease, and sunshine, and girls in bathing suits, and you know, it was ridiculous. It was complete fantasy, and so, so, so much fun, except for Pierce. We were shooting in the James Bond Studio, and he was so afraid when he was walking to set, and his spandex, you know, that he'd run into Daniel Craig, who was playing Bond at the time, and he would be humiliated, but it was so much fun. So much fun. Made some great friends, lifelong friends on that movie. Yeah, I loved it. And they were all game. Look at how Colin Firth humiliated himself in that movie. I mean, we all just, I was in overalls. What was I thinking? It was great. Amanda, I think I really, really took notice of her when we were doing the prerecord before we started shooting. Her voice is extraordinary, and it's almost like born to sing that, or she could sing actually anything, but when I heard her sing, I thought, oh my God, she's an angel, but she's so inventive, and just an interesting, interesting girl, and I loved the scene that we did in Mamma Mia, and she sat on my lap, and the song was slipping through my fingers, and it really made me think how swiftly things change. She was a baby then. Look at how she's grown up. Now there's my ride. Loud and long, and all the while, his eyes went to and fro. Ha ha, quoth he, full plain I see. Look at Bob Redford. Was he the most divine man in the world? He prayeth well who loveth well, both man and bird and beast. It's not a sex scene. It's a love scene, and basically, he didn't know how to, he'd never, of course, washed anyone's hair except his own, maybe even not his own, but he had to be taught, so my longtime makeup man, Roy Hallam, J. Roy Hallam, he showed him how to do it, and he really got into it. He was really amazing. I didn't want that scene to end. It felt so good. That's better. We did it quite a number of times because just over on that side of the thing, there were hippos in the water, in the river, and they're the most dangerous animals in Africa. They're the ones who most often attack people. There was a moment where we had to stop because one of them came and opened his mouth, and we beat a hasty retreat to lunch, but it was a great morning. I remember it well. Beauty book my butt. Wait a second. Free weights, exercise. I don't think this is a miracle at all. You're a fraud, Helen. You're a walking lie, and I can see right through you. Speaking of which, as a friend, some advice. I would stay out of a bathing suit for a while. At least a two-piece. Or, if I... There it goes. Boing, boing, boing, boing, boing. I remember being in a green spandex suit that encompassed my whole body, and then little pins being stuck in it, and they measured something. So, no, I wasn't in my costume, and then they, for part of this, when they take your head off, I'm not sure how they do it, but it's not like playing in a scene that Arthur Miller wrote or anything. It's a completely different animal. Tedious is kind of a little word for what it is. It's excruciating. And then, when we get to the scene, and we just do the scene, all silly and fabulous, me and, with Goldie, we just laughed. We just had a lot of fun. And she's the best laugher in America, really. She laughs like, ah-ha! And then they have to stop shooting. But it was really, that part was fun. But the VFX, or what do they call it? That part is not that. En garde, bitch! Goldie, she was always late to set, but she was so adorable. And I'm always on time, you know? And annoying. But she's late, and she'd had a red convertible, I remember, and she'd drive herself to set. And so that was probably the problem. She'd drive herself to set. She had her hair all blown up. She was like, oh gosh, sorry! You know? And everybody thought, oh, she's so cute. Yeah. So I had a beef with her, but I loved her. I love her. She's one of my buddies, and you know, over the years, we've had some laughs about that movie, because people love it. I thought it was like a documentary on Beverly Hills. Girls, girls! Let's just calm down. I'm sure we can settle this peacefully in the, whoa! Oh, Bruce was divine. I guess he was a bad boy on certain sets, and came with a little reputation for being difficult, but we had so much fun with him. He was such a gent, and so game, and willing to be ridiculous, and I just thought he was wonderful. We were shooting in a trailer in, I think, Weirton, West Virginia, or maybe Steubenville, Ohio. I can't remember, but they're right across the river from each other. I'm wearing a polyester shirt and a mohair sweater, and my hair was all puffy and done, and it was 106 in the trailer, and the whole camera crew had stripped down. Bill Mosigman, who was the cinematographer, was wearing one of those European bathing suits that's beyond, but they were cool, and I was just sweating buckets, and my makeup man had to keep coming in, and just patting, and doing everything he could, and blowing air up into this hair so it stayed puffy. Bob De Niro didn't even break a sweat, not at all. That man is, I mean, he's in control of his craft. He is intensely where he is in the moment, that he was in October in a cool, probably drafty, cool trailer that didn't have its heat, and I was where we were. I was dying, but it was, again, really memorable time in my life. I just felt like it was such a gift to get cast in that, and then to play with all those amazing, wonderful actors. God bless America, my home sweet home. I didn't have much to do with him in that film, but I had preceded it. We had done Measure for Measure in Central Park, and a lot of things I learned from him, and I think about every time I work, because the director used to call him, oh, here comes 20 questions. He had always, every morning, 20 questions at least. He just dug, dug, dug, dug deep to ask the questions that had not even really occurred to me to ask, and then he was just an amazing listener. The quality of his, what he, and intensity of how he soaked in whatever was happening in the scene and outside in the park. A lot of things happened, and everything happened to him. You could feel, see it on his skin. He was alive in the moment. It was a great lesson. I'm actually a journalist now. I've been published in, it doesn't matter. Anyway, we are all well aware that running that story was a mistake and are taking immediate steps. I cannot actually get over this. It's really remarkable. A senior editor at Runway, you. Yep. We're all so thrilled. You know what's funny is you've changed. You have, you're much more confident. Kept those eyebrows though, didn't you? Okay, there you go. Emily Blunt. Ladies and gentlemen, Emily Blunt. You know, who takes charge of this movie? It's not Miranda. Clearly, who takes charge is Emily Blunt. I am the new futures editor at Runway. No, you're not. Are you serious? Wow. Wonders never cease. This version of events, everything, what else hasn't changed? Social media now directs our lives, our children's lives to greatly ill effect the industry of journalism and certainly print magazines, newspapers. And as a result, the effect on culture has been profound. It's hard to get the narrative of where we're going. Everybody's sort of destabilized. And so in this movie, Miranda is on the shoals of that dilemma, how to keep her enterprise going, how to keep it viable, how to keep it financially working. He said that we need, I mean, Runway needs to take control of the narrative of the Speedpatch story and restore credibility. And he thought someone with my expertise would be a good idea. But I thought that for sure you had approved and were excited. And that's why I came in here all like, oh. In the second film, because I'm sort of beginning in crisis, it's not Miranda in control. So her authority is slightly under siege. And that part is, it's funny. And so I felt like I could relax with my friends a little bit better. Also, I'm older and I don't probably give as many fucks as I used to about things like that. Thank you so much for watching.