Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant on How They Would Handle an Untalented Co-star
Florence Foster Jenkins, in theaters now, is a story based on the real woman of the same name who wowed audiences with her singing. Now, mind you, Foster Jenkins wasn’t wowing them because she was particularly adept with her vocals. Instead, it was her innate ability to be off-key, take odd breaths, and be slightly behind in her timing that makes her one of the most captivating performers to ever take a stage.
Foster Jenkins was able to get large audiences and make recordings because of her wealth and charisma. With that influence came a cadre of yes-men who, rather than risk hurting her feelings or losing access to the generous doling out of her fortune, would insist to Foster Jenkins that she was a magnificent artist of the highest caliber.
When Yahoo Movies sat down with Florence Foster Jenkins stars Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, and Simon Helberg, we asked them what they would do (or have done) if they shared a scene with an actor they could tell was trying but just wasn’t living up to the material.
“If you’re in a scene with someone and you’re judging their performance, you’re not in the same scene with them,” cautioned Streep. The Academy Award–winning actress, who play Foster Jenkins in the film, noted that such thinking is something to steer clear of. “I would say that you’re not doing your own job right if you’re judging the performance of the other person.”
Helberg pointed out that when you’re working with someone of Streep’s extraordinary abilities, the risk of sharing a scene with an untalented partner is nil. “That did not happen with Meryl Streep,” he said with a smile. The Big Bang Theory star, who plays pianist Cosme McMoon, added “I don’t want to meddle. I’m not a meddler. And I want everything to be the best it can be, but I’m not looking to, sort of, crush any dreams.”
“Well, I’m a great believer in lying,” said Grant. The British actor plays Foster Jenkins’s husband, St. Clair Bayfield, and gave a decidedly different (and quite funny) answer than his co-stars. “Honesty is very overrated. It’s like, if I’ve just done a film or a play or something, you sometimes get people who come backstage and come up to you afterward and say, ‘Do you mind if I’m honest?’ And my answer is, ‘Yes, I do mind.’ Lie, you bastard. I don’t want to hear … I have no interest in your integrity. I just want to feel good.”
Meet the Real Florence Foster Jenkins:
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