'Into the Woods': James Corden Recalls Meryl Streep's On-Set Brush With Death
The cast and creators of Into the Woods assembled in New York City on Saturday night for a special Yahoo event: A screening of the film, followed by an exclusive Q&A with Woods stars Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman, Christine Baranski, screenwriter James Lapine, and director Rob Marshall. In case you missed the live stream, here are the video highlights – starting with James Corden’s story about the time Meryl Streep almost fell to her death on set. (Watch the video above!)
Corden, the Tony-winning British actor who plays the Baker, recalled a time during rehearsal when he, Streep (the Witch), and Emily Blunt (the Baker’s Wife) were practicing their first scene together. Streep was wearing a billowing witch dress and carrying a cane, when she stumbled during a crucial moment. “She’s leaping and jumping up on things and coming up and getting into your face. And she leaps onto the table… catches her shoe in the dress, and starts to fall back headfirst towards this stone floor,” Corden said. ”And time slowed down and I thought, ‘I’m about to watch Meryl Streep die.’” One cast member did think fast and save Streep, though it wasn’t Corden or director Rob Marshall who leaped to the star’s rescue: It was their pregnant co-star Emily Blunt!
Streep, alive and well, was an active participant in Saturday’s panel. When asked how children might react to the dark tone of Into the Woods, she responded thoughtfully, “The world is dark and full of joy, both, and they know that. They know that from the time they’re very little… I think children of all ages, as they used to say, will respond to this, because it’s deep and joyful and scary and funny.”
Anna Kendrick, who plays Cinderella, is one of several cast members (including Streep, Baranski, and Ullman) with a background in musical theater. She said the biggest difference between performing a musical onstage versus onscreen, is that in movies, actors record their songs in a studio, rather than performing them live.
Director Rob Marshall weighed in on why he considers Into the Woods “a fairy tale for the post-9/11 generation.”
Finally, Meryl Streep read the audience a letter from songwriter Stephen Sondheim, who was unable to attend the panel due to illness. Famous for his brilliance with words, Sondheim made a few typos in his message, providing an opportunity for Streep and Sondheim pal Christine Baranski to crack a few jokes.
Watch the complete Q&A here. Into the Woods opens in theaters on Christmas Day.
