According to Coming Soon, Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges are in talks to star in Escape Artists’ “Great Hope Springs”. Philip Seymour Hoffman is also circling the project but may not be able to join in due to schedule conflicts. The film, written by Vanessa Taylor Writer, is about a couple who have been married for thirty years and attend an intense counseling weekend to decide the fate of their marriage. Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Guymon Casady and Steve Tisch are producing the dramedy.

“In talks” basically means that the two are considered, or wanted for this projects, so I wouldn’t count it as an official project for now. Be sure I keep you posted on further information.

According to the Italian news association ANSA, Meryl Streep and Andy Garcia will be awarded with the Rudolfo Valentino Award in Poltu Quatu, Sardegna, Italy, July 7. The Rodolfo Valentino award is given each year by a jury of critics to movie personalities who have success all over the world, past winners include Pedro Almodovar, Robert Altman, Bernardo Berolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, Bette Davis, Jeremy Irons, Sophia Loren and Roman Polanski, among others. Thanks to Ilaria for the heads-up!

The following article from the Connecticut Theater Reviews not only features some great remarks by Meryl on her early stage work but also four amazing pictures from her collaboration with the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in 1975. The complete article can be read here and below.

I just got off the phone, talking to Meryl Streep about the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, and its second Tony Award — this one for outstanding regional theater, which was presented during last night’s Tony ceremonies at Radio City Music Hall. Streep spent a summer at the O’Neill 35 years ago when she was a young actress starting out, fresh out of her three years at Yale School of Drama. While at the O’Neill in 1975 she appeared among projects in a John Guare play being developed there called “Marco Polo Sings a Solo” and Jeff Wanshel’s “Isadora Duncan Sleeps with the Russian Navy.” Also in the staged reading were actors Joel Brooks, Jay Garner and Kevin O’Connor. Read the rest of this entry »

As reported earlier, Meryl has attended the AFI Lifetime Achievment Award to director Mike Nichols, yesterday. Pictures have been added to the Image Library with more information below. It was a reunion with lots of her Nichols-directed co-stars – Cher of “Silkwood”, Jack Nicholson of “Heartburn” and Shirley MacLaine of “Postcards from the Edge”. The tribute to Nichols airs June 26 on TV Land.

I remember on ‘Silkwood’ once, you said to me, ‘You know, directing is like making love.’ And I said, ‘Eww, I don’t even know him that well. Why is he telling me this?’ ‘Because,’ you went on, ‘you never know if you’re doing it right or as well as the other guy.’ I just found that insecurity so completely disarming, and, well, you know, I started to fall in love with you over and over and over again.

Introduced by Streep at the end of the evening, Nichols gushed thanks for his costume designers, cinematographers, script supervisors, makeup artists, composers and other associates. “If I thanked everyone who contributed importantly over the years, we would be here until Miley Cyrus’ AFI award,” Nichols said. “All of you made me feel I got away with it. I love the process of making a movie, and doing it with all of you was – despite the fear, the pressure, the budget – happiness.”

Director Mike Nichols will be receiving the 2010 AFI Lifetime Achievement Award tomorrow (which Meryl will be attending), and in today’s Los Angeles Times, he has talked about a few of the actors he has worked with, Meryl included. Nichols directed her to best actress Oscar nominations for 1983′s “Silkwood” and 1990′s “Postcards From the Edge,” to an Emmy in 2003′s “Angels in America,” and in 1985′s “Heartburn”):

Meryl can be anyone. Nobody understands what she does and how she does it. It’s great to be near her and to be part of it; it’s great to see her happen. The thing I always say is that she’s never lost an iota of the joy of doing it.