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MAY 2015 JB Hi-Fi
14
visit Q&A
Meryl Streep on playing theWitch in the big screen version
of the musical smash Into The Woods .
DVD &BD
the whole set. I remember coming out of the
theatre on Broadway and singing No One Is
Alone to myself – that song just pierces you
when you hear it. The other songs are equally
as wonderful. I have a song that is brand new
that Stephen Sondheim wrote for our movie.
It’s called She’ll Be Back. It turned out good
and that was just thrilling. It’s about Rapunzel
leaving and The Witch thinking she’ll be back,
but she won’t. We can all relate [to that].
What was like working with director
Rob Marshall?
Rob has a percussive sense of the movement
of the piece, like a conductor. He has got the
rhythm of it in his body. He is a former dancer,
so I think it is really important for him to keep
the incipient heartbeat of the piece beating and
pushing forward; musically, emotionally and
visually. He is the ideal guy to do that. He is
also extremely gentle as a man and has a soft
touch, never over-powering, no big ego…it is
all about the work and making it happen.
He has also assembled an impressive
ensemble for this movie…
It’s an amazing cast... it’s a real actors’ group
of talent. Nobody ever gets a chance to play
this kind of heightened reality, fantasy/fairy
tale, and it’s a unique opportunity: actors are
chewing it up. I was delighted to be working
with Emily Blunt as the baker’s wife again,
as she’s wildly talented and has a particular
warmth and sense of humor that’s perfect for
this…and a gorgeous singing voice as well.
And James Corden as the baker is legend
because of One Man,Two Guvnors, the show
he did on Broadway. And Anna Kendrick…
Pitch Perfect is one of my favorite movies, so
I loved working with her. I had worked with
Christine Baranski on Mamma Mia, who is one
of my dearest friends, and she’s diametrically
the opposite of the evil stepmother, but
she’s having an awfully good time.
And Jack’s mother, Tracey Ullman,
is one of my oldest friends, I’ve
known her since Plenty when she
was 21 years old, so it’s a dream
that we’re working together again.
I just adore her.
What do you hope audiences take
away from the film?
This is a musical with a brain. There is an
intelligence at work because it is Sondheim
and [James] Lapine. It is visually fun and
emotionally satisfying but it also has this other
element that engages us as artists and makes
us want to bring everything
we can to it. Musically, it is
challenging and thrilling and
so this is what I hope for the
audience: that they will be
thrilled and challenged.
Tell us what drew you to the project.
MERYL STREEP: When I turned 40, I was
offered three witches in one year and I realized
this was the way my career was going to
go: they don’t know what to do with women
past a certain age. So I turned them down
and I have said “no” to playing witches ever
since. However, I changed my mind when this
role came along because this witch is quite
different. First of all, she transforms. Her whole
reason for being is to reverse a curse that has
been placed on her; she sets in motion all sorts
of devices and causes a dramatic upheaval
in everybody’s lives. I believe fairy tales have
evolved as cautionary tales. They were told
to scare children away from the dangers
they would encounter in their lives and to
encourage young women to marry rich men.
Everybody is encouraged to find a Prince and
live happily ever after and sometimes it doesn’t
work that way. This is where the Into the Woods
fairy tale becomes reality and it gets really
exciting, random, weird and almost like real
life. For an actor, they are great fun.
Were you familiar with the stage production
prior to signing onto the film?
I went to see the musical when it was on
Broadway with the great Bernadette Peters
playing the Witch, and I thought it was
fantastic. There is no one like Stephen
Sondheim. There is no one who writes
singable, character-driven music that tells
a story. The wit, the intelligence and the daring
in his music is unparalleled, so I was really
happy to have the chance to work on it.
What makes the musical score so special?
I really love the music from Into theWoods.
I actually love it more every time I listen to
it. When you first encounter the music, it’s
arresting but on the second and third listening
it has more and more to give you. And when
you’re in a musical they pump the music that
we’ve recorded in a studio beforehand through