Meryl Streep in 'Doubt'It's been quite a year for Meryl Streep, even by her versatile standards. She starred in 2008's biggest movie Mammia Mia! – where she also sang Abba songs, of course – and now she's picked up her 15th Oscar nomination for Doubt.
Based on John Patrick Shanley's acclaimed play, Doubt is an intelligent, but ambiguous, story of shifting religious attitudes and murky, perhaps unfounded, allegations. Set in the Bronx in 1964, it focuses on Father Flynn (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) who brings a freshness to his parish, much to the annoyance of Streep's Sister Aloysius, a nun with an old school fire and brimstone view of Catholicism. When a fellow sister suspects Father Flynn of child abuse, events come rapidly to a head.
So, the ambitious mother in the remake of the Manchurian Candidate, the bitchy editor in The Devil Wears Prada, and now a nun with an iron fist...is someone trying to tell you something?
"People have drawn parallels between The Manchurian Candidate and Miranda in The Devil Wears Prada, and here," admits Meryl. "I haven't but they are all dragons of sort..." She laughs. "I think we're still accommodating ourselves to the idea of women leaders...and that's all I'll say on that subject."
Happily, Meryl will be drawn on many other subjects and discuss them intelligently and with good cheer. Her career and previous characters may seem intimidating but, as co-star Amy Adams explained, it’s unfounded. "Meryl is one of the most warm, funny, witty people that I've worked with… she’s a brilliant scene partner." Meryl, however, understands her reputation.
"I'm intimidated by me," she admits, "by the thing they think is me. But it goes away in the process of working." Not least when you're surrounded by schoolchildren who don't really know who you are.
"Kids are not impressed with anything," laughs Meryl. "All they wanted to talk about was The Devil Wears Prada. I just didn't want to talk about that in the habit."
Which brings us, very neatly, to the role of Sister Aloysius. By today's standards, the austere clothing and the absence of make-up must be quite a departure for any actress.
"Well of course, I had a great deal of old age make-up on..." says Meryl. "The really freeing thing (about playing a nun), you throw away everything that women normally spend a great deal of the day on. You throw away what you're going to wear, how your hair looks, how your face is, everything is gone. And that's probably the way you should be. It was very liberating and sort of spiritual if I dare use the word."
In terms of preparation, Meryl spent a lot of time with retired nuns. It was, as she explains, another liberating experience.
"Retirement homes are not usually places you'd describe as happy, but these retirement houses were filled with people who were happy. They're with their family, their Sisters, they're productively engaged, they're still tutoring kids, visiting the bereaved. It was a great inspiration."
Finally, we really must mention the Oscar thing. Meryl sighs...but with a grin. "It's so much more fun to publicise a film in July," she laughs, "because you talk about the film, you don't talk about the horse race.
"Having said that, I think Kate Winslet is great – and I'm glad she's not in three movies this year."
Doubt is on general release nationwide.