“Defending Your Life” is another odd and often-forgotten film in Meryl Streep’s filmography. It’s the second film Streep shot in Los Angeles, and, since “The Deer Hunter”, the second and last time in her career she has played a character that can be simply described as “the girl”. Fittingly for a film that plays in the afterlife up in the clouds, it’s breezy and airless

The late 1980s brought a distinctive change in Meryl Streep’s life and career. Starting in 1987, Streep prepared for the lead part in Oliver Stone’s “Evita”, a part she always wanted to play. Streep and Stone even made it to a New York City recording studio and did preliminary dubbings of the score. She would stay with the project as a priority for the next two and a hal years. The originally planned filming, set to begin in early 1989, was halted due to the riots in Argentina. The filmmakers scouted locations in Brazil and Chile, before deciding on Spain, but filming was postponed once again when its film company dropped out due to recent box office failures. While Stone managed to secure another film company to produce the film, Streep withdrew from the project. She has called the loss of that role a “bitter disappointment” in an interview with The New York Times years later. But the real distinctive change came when the Streep/Gummer family moved from Connecticut to Los Angeles in 1989. The reason for the move was simple – having had their son attending pre-school in England, Nairobi and Australia, and two young girls about to start school, they wanted to give their family a stable base. So they sailed off to Los Angeles, where they stayed for four years. The shift to the other side of the country brought a change in roles offered to Streep during that period. After the aforementioned “Postcards from the Edge”, she co-starred opposite Albert Brooks in his after-life comedy “Defending Your Life”.

In celebration of Earth Day, “Here We Are” will premiere on Apple TV+ on Friday, April 17. Lending their voices to the animated Earth Day short film are Meryl Streep, Chris O’Dowd, Jacob Tremblay and Ruth Negga. This captivating animated film, based on the No. 1 New York Times Bestseller and 2017’s No. 1 TIME Best Book of the Year, follows a precocious 7-year-old (voiced by Tremblay) who, over the course of Earth Day, learns about the wonders of the planet from his parents (voiced by O’Dowd and Negga) — and from a mysterious exhibit at the aptly titled Museum of Everything. The insightful and poignant short film is narrated by Streep. From the multi-BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning, Oscar-nominated independent animation studio, Studio AKA, the 36-minute film is written by BAFTA Award-winning Philip Hunt and Academy Award-winning Luke Matheny; directed by Hunt, and executive produced by Sue Goffe, Hunt and renowned author Oliver Jeffers. Alex Somers is the music composer.

The 1990s are often completely forgotten in articles and highlight reels of Meryl Streep’s career. Critics often take a leap between 1985’s “Out of Africa” and 2006’s “The Devil Wears Prada” when reviewing her craft. What is left out is a decade that can be best described as the self-finding trip of an actress in the worst period of her life – her 40s. By the late 1980s, Streep was “America’s greatest living actress” by far. In 10 years of screen work, she had received 8 Academy Award nominations with two wins for some of the greatest female characters of that decade, including Joanna Kramer, Sohpie, Karen Silkwood and Karen Blixen. Her star power took a slight turn after “Out of Africa” when leading roles in “Heartburn”, “Ironweed” and “A Cry in the Dark” failed to attract an audience. By the time she turned 40, as Streep has recounted in interviews, she told her husband that “it’s over,” because all roles offered to her were witches.

In this new weekly series, Simply Streep will dive into the projects that Meryl Streep did during the 1990s, how Hollywood and the perception of character actresses changed during that time, and how films with Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson continued to be box office events while actresses took a backseat. The 1990s started with “Postcards from the Edge”, a sarchastic meme of a film before the term even existed.

In more Coronavirus-related news, Meryl Streep’s hosting gig at this year’s Met Gala has been suspended as well. In compliance with the CDC’s recommendations, the Met Museum announced yesterday that all scheduled events and programs will be postponed or cancelled through May 15. The museum’s unfortunate decision comes after a slew of cancellations across America as the government asks that all gatherings of 50 people or more be shut down for the next eight weeks. Additionally, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York prohibited all events of more than 500 people on March 12 and highly encouraged that people start practicing social distancing. Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour was scheduled to host the annual Met Gala, themed “About Time: Fashion and Duration,” on May 4 alongside composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, actresses Emma Stone and Meryl Streep, and Louis Vuitton’s creative director Nicolas Ghesquière. As of now, there is no new date for the Ball’s 150th anniversary, and the publication hasn’t shared any plans for the future.

As the world reels in reaction to the ever-expanding coronavirus and nations like Italy and Iran grind to a halt, The Prom is being called off, for now, according to Deadline. The Ryan Murphy helmed feature adaptation of the Tony-nominated stage musical has shut down production, I’ve learned. The move for the Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman-led Netflix film comes out of “an abundance of caution,” a source close to the movie says. “No one has the coronavirus, this is just being prudent with everything that is going on around the world,” another individual with knowledge of the situation stresses. Already in the process of loading out on the Paramount lot, The Prom was set to be wrapped in the next few days. However, an on-location shoot today at a local school proved the catalyst to halting a little early. Permits were pulled due to the school in question closing its doors altogether due to coronavirus worries that have seen a number of education institutions in and around L.A shutter. In terms of The Prom, the plan right now is for work to resume in mid-April, though that could depend on the way COVID-19 spreads in the coming weeks around the world and in L.A. This will also likely impact production on Impeachment, as Murphy was set to shift from the feature to the last installment of FX’s American Crime Story franchise.

Hello dear followers. As it is very quiet at the moment with nothing happening (except Meryl is still shooting for Netflix’s upcoming “The Prom”), I thought it would be a good idea to sort my archives and see if there is something old I haven’t posted yet. I should do this more often as there was A LOT that I haven’t posted yet. So, brace yourself for 100 additional pictures from public appearances ranging from 1979 to 1995. Among the highlights are pictures of Meryl’s Honorary Degree in Dartmouth in 1983, a press conference during the shooting of “The House of the Spirits” in Lisboa, Portugal as well as her appearance at the first Golden Golem Film Festival in Prague for a special screening of “Sophie’s Choice” in 1995. To view all last added pictures, have a look at the extensive list below. Enjoy the new additions.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced the Little Women Digital and Blu-ray release dates. Nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of the timeless Louisa May Alcott masterpiece comes home on Digital March 10th and Blu-ray and DVD April 7th. The Blu-ray, DVD and Digital releases will take viewers even deeper into the beloved story of Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth with over 45 minutes of bonus features. In addition to earning the praise of critics worldwide with a Rotten Tomatoes “Certified Fresh” rating of 95%, the film has been honored with an Academy Award for Best Costume Design plus five nominations including Best Picture, Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), and Best Music (Original Score).

Once again, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Meryl Streep has jumped aboard Rachel Feldman’s Lilly Ledbetter fair pay movie, Lilly. Streep has brought her backing to Feldman and fellow producers to bring the long-gestating feature based on the life of the equal pay icon to production. The Hollywood actress earlier lent her support to calls for equal pay for women in the U.S., including raising the issue while promoting her star turn in Suffragette, in which she played the iconic political activist Emmeline Pankhurst. Feldman will direct Lilly, which earlier had the working title Ledbetter, as it portrays Ledbetter inspiring the Fair Pay Restoration Act, the first piece of legislation President Barack Obama signed after his inauguration. J. Todd Harris (The Kids Are All Right) has also joined Feldman as a producing partner on the project. Ledbetter gained attention by fighting The Goodyear Tire Company for her right to pay equal to that of her male counterparts. She was a pioneer in putting a name to the issue, before Megan Rapinoe energized the fight for equal pay in sports and Michelle Williams spotlighted the pay gap for female actors in Hollywood. “Historic dramas often chronicle the external forces of politics, but Lilly tells the story of what happens to a woman’s inner life when patriarchal injustice overwhelms every aspect of her existence. Lilly is the perfect film for this moment in time,” Feldman, a director, screenwriter and activist and the former chair of the DGA Women’s Steering Committee, said in a statement.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women has strolled past the $100 million mark at the domestic box office in another win for the Oscar-nominated film. The milestone comes on the eve of Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony, for which the Sony movie is nominated in six top categories, including best picture, as well as for best actress (Saoirse Ronan) and best supporting actress (Florence Pugh). While Gerwig is up for best adapted screenplay, the filmmaker was shut out of the directors’ race. Little Women, opening Christmas Day, cost roughly $40 million to produce before marketing and will be nicely profitable for Sony and producer Amy Pascal after continuing to exceed expectations. The movie has grossed more than $64 million to date overseas for a global tally of $165 million. The latest adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel about the March sisters also stars Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Letts, Meryl Streep, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Louis Garrel and Chris Cooper.

Yesterday, Meryl Streep and the cast of “Big Little Lies” attended the 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. They were nominated as Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series, but lost to the cast of “The Crown”. Lots of pictures from the ceremony have been added to the photo gallery with more information to follow. Enjoy. Update: A video segment of Meryl’s appearance has been added to the video archive, with many thanks to Youtuber Wei Lan. Screencaptures have been added as well.