loads of fans myself included have been
absolutely loving Mamma Mia here we go
again
there's something that has disappointed
some is Meryl Streep's miniscule role in
the movie
yippee-ki-yay movie lovers it's Jan here
and in this video I'm going to reveal
the real reason why we see so little
Streep in the sequel and I'll also
explain the behind the scenes decisions
that led to that scene with Donna
be aware there are spoilers ahead for
Donna story and Mamma Mia too if you
haven't seen it yet when the first
trailer for Mamma Mia here we go again
dropped speculation ran wild that Donna
was no longer alive while Meryl Streep's
appearance was teased in some new bits
of footage the overall tone suggested
Donna had passed away indeed
Sophia dresses her mother's absence
right at the start of the new movie and
it's revealed soon after that Donna has
died I'm glad the filmmakers ripped off
that band-aid instead of making us wait
to find out Donna's fate though it did
make for a somewhat melancholy tone in
some of the present-day scenes and it's
a little frustrating we didn't find out
what actually happened
we do have course gets a brilliant
prequel story with Lily James as the
young Donna but Meryl Streep herself
doesn't appear in person until the very
final scene in the chapel where she's a
ghostly apparition only seen by her
daughter and then she also performs in
the Super Trouper song watching Streep
and Amanda Seyfried sing my love my life
in that closing scene is a very touching
moment as mother and daughter a reunited
one final time however it's also
heartbreaking and has had many fans
crying their eyes out at the cinema so
why exactly did the filmmakers really
make this particular story choice
something that was kept pretty hush-hush
during the publicity tour for Mamma Mia
- is that Meryl Streep wasn't keen on
doing a sequel here we go again writer
director ol Parker has admitted that
Streep small role in the new movie
wasn't due to scheduling conflicts in
fact he said that if Streep had taken
the main lead role in the sequel then
the production would have moved its
schedule to accommodate her after all
they waited 10 years to do Mamma Mia -
so I doubt another 6 or 12 months would
have mattered the main issue was that
Streep didn't want such a major part in
any sequel indeed Mamma Mia creator judy
kramer revealed that Streep told her she
would never take on all that
singing and running around on cliff tops
again and that's not because she didn't
enjoy making the first movie it's just
that during her incredible career the
three-time oscar-winning actress has
until now never made a sequel Streep is
one of Hollywood's most versatile and
successful actresses and she's rightly
willing to turn down roles if they don't
pique her interest enough I certainly
can't fault her for wanting to keep her
career and life fresh for herself and
let's remember of course that on top of
that she's 69 now 10 years older than
when she made the original Mamma Mia
still Streep did want to be involved in
the sequel in some way so the challenge
was for the filmmakers to figure out a
follow-up story that worked with
drastically less Donner all Parker who
was tasked with writing the script for
Mamma Mia 2 struggled initially coming
up empty on ideas obviously Donna isn't
the only main character in Mamma Mia
however the core of the story is always
centered around her and her daughter
Sophie so cutting out Donna left a big
hole the solution eventually came from
Richard Curtis his daughter who
suggested they take a cue from one of
the most famous and best ever movie
sequels The Godfather Part 2 in other
words do a prequel meet sequel by
writing a prequel story with a new young
cast it meant that the much-loved
character of Donna could remain center
stage in Mamma Mia - without Streep
actually appearing on screen for most of
the movie the original film had hinted
at a rich backstory for Donna which gave
the filmmakers plenty of ideas to
explore in the young Donna storyline as
for has Streep small part in the movie
woodwork ol Parker decided that the most
meaningful and emotional impactful way
would be for Donna to die that decision
was discussed with everyone and Streep
was reported to be thrilled and
delighted with passing the baton to the
younger cast now your feelings on
whether the producers made a good
decision in killing off Donna will vary
I'm sure I'll Park himself has said that
he knew the decision would be a radical
and controversial one and that the
audience would decide whether it was
radical good or radical bad Donna's
passing is obviously felt throughout the
movie from Rosie bursting into tears
when her name is mentioned to Sam
singing a plaintive SOS by himself in
contrast to the SOS piatti sanguine
Meryl Streep in the first movie Amanda
Seyfried said she thinks the sequels
better and call the first movie of Beach
in comparison to here we go again which
he described as an ocean in terms of its
emotional depth and I suspect that the
slightly darker tone and story of Mamma
Mia too might have played best for
critics and their reviews of this film
compared to the first one as for me I
really enjoyed the new movie though I do
have some mixed feelings one part of me
wishes they could have figured out a
clever story that kept Donner alive and
managed to have Meryl Streep appear for
at least a few more scenes however I
realized that both story wise and given
the amount of time they had with Streep
that would have been a rather difficult
feat to pull off without having some
overly convoluted reasoning for why
Sophie's mother was absent something
that occurred to me is that in Mamma Mia
two young Donna's friends try to
convince her to go out and see the world
rather than stay on the island so maybe
that idea could have worked for
present-day Donna
despite some melancholy moments then the
sequel is still full of charm and has
lots of joyous celebratory scenes
culminating in the curtaincall
performance of super trouper where Meryl
Streep joins all the old and new cast
for a final rousing number now I'd love
to know what you think about Meryl
Streep's role in the movie so I've added
a poll where you can vote just tap in
the top right of this video and after
you've cast your vote you'll be able to
see the results and don't forget to
subscribe and leave a comment for your
chance to win one of these awesome
allomere too much pax remember also to
click the gleam link in the video
description below to register your entry
tap less to watch another Mamma Mia 2
video or tap write for my full Mamma Mia
and musicals playlist thanks for
watching and see you next time you PKA
movie lovers