PLEASE WELCOME THE EVER
MAGNIFICENT MERYL STREEP IS ON THE SHOW!
WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT!
HOW ARE YOU, MERYL, ARE YOU WELL?
>> I'M VERY WELL, THANKS.
I FEEL EXTREMELY WEIRD SITTING IN MY OWN LIVING ROOM COVERED IN
DOG HAIRS.
>> James: YES, WELL, I'VE SEEN YOU ON A LOT OF ZOOMS THIS PAST
FEW MONTHS AND I'M LIKING THIS BACKGROUND.
A LOVELY PAINTING.
>> THANK YOU.
YEAH, I'M HOME AND COMMUTING TO BOSTON TO MAKE A MOVIE.
>> James: THAT'S RIGHT, IT JUST STARTED.
>> YES.
I JUST STARTED ON FRIDAY.
>> James: BECAUSE I KNOW YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO START THIS
BEFORE LOCKDOWN, AND THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME BACK AFTER -- I
IMAGINE, FOR YOU, QUITE A LONG PERIOD OF NOT WORKING, RIGHT?
WHAT WAS IT LIKE BEING BACK ON SET FOR THE FIRST TIME?
>> IT WAS HORRIBLE (LAUGHING).
>> James: WHY?
BECAUSE I WAS HERE.
WE HAD TO QUARANTINE FOR TWO WEEKS AND NO ONE COULD COME AND
THEY DELIVERED MEALS, AND I HAVE BEEN TESTED UP THE WAZOO LIKE A
HUNDRED TIMES.
SO I'M PLAYING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN THIS FILM
AND THE FIRST DAY OF WORK WAS A GREAT BIG ADDRESS TO A STADIUM,
A BASKETBALL STADIUM, AND THEY HAD SENT ME THE SCRIPT AND I HAD
LEARNED A BIG SPEECH FOR THE FIRS FIRST DAY.
YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE.
USUALLY YOU LIKE TO GET IN AND OUT OF CAR THE FIRST DAY OF WORK
OR SOMETHING.3 >> James: SURE, YEAH.
TO EASE IN.
BUT THIS WAS FULL ON.
AND THERE WAS MY BIG FACE ON THE JumboTron IN FRONT OF ME,
AND IT WAS JUST SO HUGE AND CAVERNOUS, AND THE SPEECH WAS
REWRITTEN AND I HADN'T GOTTEN IT THE NIGHT BEFORE, SO I TRIED TO
LEARN IT REALLY FAST AND I COULDN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING I WAS
SUPPOSED TO SAY, AND THE EXTRAS ARE ALL LOOKING AT ME, LIKE --
( LAUGHTER ) >> James: YOU GOT UP THERE AND
YOU KEPT FORGETTING YOUR LINES?
>> YEAH, YEAH, IT WAS AWFUL.
BUT I HAD THE GREAT JONAH HILL WITH ME, SO HE WOULD IMPROVISE
AROUND AND HAVE FUN.
BUT IT WAS JUST SORT OF, YOU KNOW THAT FEELING, IT'S LIKE
HIGH SCHOOL, YOU DIDN'T STUDY FOR THE TEST OR YOU HAVE A DREAM
THAT YOU DIDN'T -- THAT YOU'RE NUDE ON STAGE IN HIGH SCHOOL OR
SOMETHING.
IT JUST FELT TERRIBLE.
I HAD, LIKE, WHITE-HOTHOT LEAD GOING DOWN TO MY FEET.
I GOT THROUGH IT SOMEHOW, GOT IN MY CAR, RIPPED OFF THE FAKE
EYELASHES AND DROVE HOME, WITH MY DOG, AND I WAS BACK IN THE
SILENT NIGHT.
AND I WAS JUST SO ( BLEEP ) BIZARRE, YOU KNOW.
>> James: ALL OF THOSE EXTRAS MUST HAVE JUST BEEN, LIKE, IT'S
AMAZING WHAT THEY CAN DO, ISN'T IT, BECAUSE SHE IS TERRIBLE.
( LAUGHTER ) SHE'S TERRIBLE!
THEY MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE, DONALD TRUMP WAS RIGHT, SHE IS
OVERRATED!
THIS IS -- ( LAUGHTER )
>> I TOTALLY AGREED WITH HIM, YEAH, YEAH.
>> James: NOW, I'VE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF CARRYING YOU
THROUGH TWO MOVIES NOW.
( LAUGHTER ) I MEAN, IT IS A PRIVILEGE.
THE FIRST TIME WE WORKED TOGETHER WAS IN 2013 ON INTO THE
WOODS, AND IT WAS A MOST GLORIOUS TIME.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS, DID YOU KNOW THAT I
STARTED A RUMOR ON THE FILM, WHEN YOU WEREN'T IN, IN THE
MORNING, THAT YOU'D BEEN FIRED FROM THE MOVIE?
( LAUGHTER ) IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST RUSES
I'VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE, AND PEOPLE REALLY WENT FOR IT.
THEY WERE, LIKE, NO!
WERE YOU AWARE THAT THIS WAS GOING ON?
>> NO, BUT THEY WERE VERY GLAD TO SEE ME THE NEXT DAY WHEN I
CAME TO THE SET.
BUT WERE PEOPLE RELIEVED KIND OF, DID YOU GET THAT FEELING?
>> James: NO, EVERYONE WAS DEVASTATED, AND I COULDN'T HAVE
DONE IT ON MY OWN.
IT WAS ONLY BECAUSE I HAD CHRISTINE BORANSKI BACKING ME
UP.
>> OH, SHE'S AN EVIL BITCH, REALLY IS.
( LAUGHTER ) >> James: AS SOON AS I WINKEDT
AT HER, SHE JUST WENT INTO, MERYL IS DEVASTATED, SHE'S
DEVASTATED, SHE'S FLOWN HOME ON A JET, SHE'S DEVASTATED.
( LAUGHTER ) >> BUT THAT WAS SUCH A GREAT
SHOOT.
>> James: HAS MERYL STREEP EVER BEEN FIRED FROM ANYTHING?
HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED THAT?
>> ONLY FROM RELATIONSHIPS, NOT FROM A JOB.
>> James: NOW, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE PROM.
>> YEAH.
>> James: I CAN HONESTLY SAY I HAD THE SINGLE GREATEST TIME OF
MY LIFE ON THE DAYS -- MY CAREER, ON THE DAYS THAT YOU AND
I WERE TOGETHER.
>> YEAH.
>> James: FOR ANYONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW, TELL THEM WHAT THE
FILM'S ABOUT AND WHO YOU PLAY.
>> WELL, IT'S ABOUT -- BASED ON A REAL STORY FROM A LITTLE
COUPLE IN INDIANA, TWO GIRLS WHO WANTED TO GO TO THE PROM
TOGETHER, AND THE P.T.A. DIDN'T WANT SAME-SEX COUPLES AT THEIR
HIGH SCHOOL PROM, SO THEY FOOLED THIS YOUNG GIRL INTO THINKING
THAT THE PROM WAS GOING TO BE HELD IN THE GYM, AND IT WAS NOT.
THEY HELD ANOTHER ONE SOMEWHERE ELSE, AND SHE WAS LEFT ON HER
OWN, AND IT SORT OF -- IT MADE THE NEWS, AND THEY MADE A
MUSICAL OF IT THAT WAS AN ENORMOUS HIT ON BROADWAY, BUT
HAS SINCE CLOSED.
I THINK THEY'RE REVIVING IT, ACTUALLY, RIGHT NOW.
>> James: OH, I HOPE THEY DO.
OH, I DO, TOO.
I SAW IT RIGHT BEFORE IT CLOSED, AND I'VE NEVER SEEN AN AUDIENCE
JUST SCREAMING WITH JOY.
IT WAS SO MUCH FUN AND REALLY, REALLY GREAT.
BUT YOU AND I PLAY BIG BROADWAY STARS WHO ARE ON THE EBB OF
THEIR CAREERS, AND THEY ARE SORT OF TANKING, AND THEY DECIDE TO
TAKE THIS CAUSE OF THE GIRLS AND GO OUT TO INDIANA AND GET SOME
GOOD PUBLICITY.
>> James: AND YOU PLAY AN INCREDIBLE CHARACTER,
DEDeALLEN, WHO IS SORT OF A SELF-OBSESSED DIVA NARCISSIST.
WAS THIS A STRETCH FOR YOU?
( LAUGHTER ) >> I DON'T KNOW WHERE I PULLED
IT FROM, BUT I DID WATCH YOU FOR SEVERAL MONTHS IN PREPARATION
AND -- ( LAUGHTER )
-- I HAD THE CHARACTER.
I LOVE PLAYING IT.
NARCISSISM IS HILARIOUS UNLESS IT'S, YOU KNOW, THE PRESIDENT,
AND THEN IT'S HORRIBLE.
>> James: WHEN WE WERE SHOOTING THE FILM, YOU WOULD
CONSTANTLY SAY YOU WERE WORRIED ABOUT THE BIG DANCE NUMBERS, YOU
WOULD SAY IT ALL THE TIME.
SOME OF MY FAVORITE MOMENTS ARE IN THOSE DANCE ROUTINES AND
YOU'RE JUST IN THE CORNER OF YOUR MOUTH GOING I CAN'T
( BLEEP ) DO THIS.
( LAUGHTER ) BUT YOU WERE SO FANTASTIC IN
THEM.
HOW DID IT FEEL FOR YOU WHEN WE DID THOSE BIG SONGS AND DANCES?
>> OH, I WAS SO WORRIED!
YOU ARE SUCH A FANTASTIC DANCER.
I DIDN'T KNOW THAT ABOUT YOU, BUT YOU ARE.
YOU'RE AMAZING!
YEAH, NO, IT WAS REALLY HARD.
WHEN I WENT TO SEE THE BROADWAY SHOW, I SAW THE GREAT BETH LAVEL
DO THE PART.
IT WAS AMAZING.
BUT SHE DID A LOT OF POSING AND STANDING AND MOVING HER ARMS.
I THOUGHT, I CAN MOVE MY ARMS.
AND THEN WE GOT TO THE REHEARSALS, AND IT WAS THESE BIG
DANCE NUMBERS WITH MULTIPLE SORT OF STEPS AND THINGS AND THAT WAS
HARD.
WE WERE ALL TERRIFIED.
>> James: YOU'RE SO TERRIFIC.
MY FAVORITE MEMORIES ARE, LIKE, THE TWO OF US BEING LIFTED UP BY
THOSE DANCERS AND CARRIED THROUGH SARDI'S.
I WILL NEVER EVER FORGET IT.
YOU ARE SO INCREDIBLE.