| EXTENSIVE BIOGRAPHY | CHAPTER 08 | BACK TO BASIC |
The 90's might be described as a self-finding trip for Meryl Streep. After comedies and epics, she
strived for yet another challenge and took over the leading role in Curtis Hanson's "The River Wild".
Gail Hartman, an expert at white water rafting, takes her family on a trip down the river to their
family's house. Along the way, the family encounters two men who are unexperienced rafters that
need to find their friends down river. Later, the family finds out that the pair of men are armed
robbers. The men then physically force the family to take them down the river to meet their
accomplices. The rafting trip for the family is definitely ruined, but most importantly, their
lives are at stake. Many of the river scenes were done on the wild and scenic Rogue River near the
city of Grants Pass in Southern Oregon.
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Meryl guides "The River Wild" and leaves her handprints at the Manns Chinese Theatre |
"I wanted to tax myself in that way, see how strong I could get, how scared I could get, and how much I could overcome it," Meryl recalls. The process began
four months before shooting began. She'd get up at 5 a.m. so she could finish her workout before
her family got going. "I had to get stronger, so I embarked on this impossible
regimen only movie stars and athletes can keep up. I did yoga, weight training, and aerobic
training for three hours a day." The film, released in December 1994, was a solid success. Although
the role of Gail didn't claim for in-depth characterisation or an accent, Streep was famous for to
speak perfectly, critics respected all the difficulties and power she needed to keep control over
the boat, as she did almost all of the stunts by herself.
After all excursions Meryl did in the early 90's, Clint Eastwood offered a part that would easily
tie
with her previous success with "Out Of Africa". Eastwood, who is a legendary actor from western
and action films, worked on a film version of Robert Waller's bestseller "The Bridges of Ma-dison
County", about a housewife's four-day affair with a photographer on his journey through Iowa. The
role of Francesca Johnson was desired by many actresses, Susan Sarandon, Anjelica Huston and Jessica
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Falling in love with Clint Eastwood in "The Bridges of Madison County", with Liam Neeson in "Before and After" |
Lange were in early talks, but it was Eastwood's mother who told her son that Meryl Streep would be the the perfect choice for the part that provided an Italian accent (her ability for accents was always either
criticized or praised by critics) and gaining wheight to play the Italian war bride. As awaited,
"The Bridges of Madison County" was not only the most celebrated romance drama of the year 1995 but
is often described as one of the most beautiful lovestories of this decade. Meryl was recognized
again with a nomination for the Oscar.
In somewhat of a career renaissance, her next films were all an example of fine filmmaking and
excellent acting, but were all little-seen by audiences. She first appeared opposite Liam Neeson
in Barbet Schroeder's "Before and After" (1996), about a family whose son is arrested for the murder
of
his girlfriend. Once again her character was in trouble with her on-screen son in Marvin's Room"
(1996, Golden Globe nomination), sharing the screen with Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro and Leonardo
DiCaprio. Streep also took her first stab at executive production in the made-for-television
movie "…First Do No Harm" about a mother of a child with severe epilepsy, for which she received
her second Emmy nominations. The late nineties presented Meryl with her 11th and 12th Oscar nominations,
for playing a mother dy-
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Meryl Streep with her on-screen children Leonar-do DiCaprio and Renée Zellweger |
ing of cancer in Carl Franklin's moving "One True Thing" (1998) and as tough
violin teacher Roberta Guaspari in Wes Craven's "Music of the Heart", a role for which Meryl
learned to play the violin, by practicing six hours a day for eight weeks, after Madonna, who
was originally in negotations for the part, dropped out.
