Meryl Streep is no slouch when it comes to transformative performances, but the latest legend she's set to play will make Anna Wintour look like a pushover. Streep has signed on to star as Maria Callas in an HBO adaptation of "Master Class," an award-winning Broadway play by Terrence McNally that takes place in 1971 at Julliard. In the story, the unforgettable diva is teaching a class while contemplating her astonishing career and dramatic life, which includes a torrid affair with Aristotle Onassis that ends when he leaves her for none other than Jackie O.
"Master Class" will reunite Streep with Mike Nichols, who worked with her on "Angels in America," "Postcards From the Edge," "Heartburn," and "Silkwood." The movie will start filming in January after Streep finishes an entirely different sort of musical performance in Jonathan Demme's "Ricky and the Flash." Streep, who stars as an aging rocker, has even been getting some guitar-picking tips from Neil Young for the role. No word yet on whether or not she'll be attempting Callas' famous bel canto.
Callas, who starred in Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Medea" in 1969, is the subject of a number of projects in the works. Faye Dunaway, who starred as Callas in "Master Class" in 1997, directed and stars in a biopic about the singer that has been in limbo for years. In 2013, she told The Independent "about three quarters of the film has been shot, we are going to film the rest of it soon." Meanwhile, Niki Caro ("Whale Rider") announced at Cannes that she will begin production on a biopic about Callas this fall. Meanwhile, the opera singer did take a stab at acting onscreen herself; she starred as Medea in Pier Paolo Pasolini's take on the Euripides play.
[Via PageSix]
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