Tag: Meryl Streep

  • Author Julie Powell, food writer of ‘Julie & Julia’, dies at 49

    By Associated Press

    NEW YORK: Food writer Julie Powell, who became an internet darling after blogging for a year about making every recipe in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” leading to a book deal and a film adaptation, has died. She was 49.

    Powell died of cardiac arrest on October 26 at her home in upstate New York, The New York Times reported. Her death was confirmed by Judy Clain, Powell’s email and editor-in-chief of Little, Brown.

    “She was a brilliant writer and a daring, original person and she will not be forgotten,” Clain said in a statement. ”We are sending our deepest condolences to all who knew and loved Julie, whether personally or through the deep connections she forged with readers of her memoirs.”

    Powell’s 2005 book “Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen” became the hit, Nora Ephron-directed film “Julie & Julia,” with the author portrayed in the movie by Amy Adams and Meryl Streep as Child.

    Her sophomore and last effort — titled “Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession” — was a bit jarring in its honesty. Powell revealed she had an affair, the pain of loving two men at once, of her fondness for sadomasochism and even a bout of self-punishing sex with a stranger.

    “People coming from the movie ‘Julie & Julia’ and picking up ‘Cleaving’ are going to be in for some emotional whiplash,” she told The Associated Press in 2009. “I don’t believe it’s going to be a Nora Ephron movie.”

    Powell began her affair in 2004 as she was putting the finishing touches on her first book, a time she writes when she was “starry-eyed and vaguely discontented and had too much time on my hands.”

    By 2006, she had landed an apprenticeship at a butcher shop two hours north of New York City, which offered an escape from her crumbling marriage and a place to explore her childhood curiosity with butchers.

    “The way they held a knife in their hand was like an extension of themselves,” she said. “I’m a very clumsy person. I don’t play sports. That kind of physical skill is really foreign to me, and I’m really envious of that.”

    The book explores the link between butchering and her own tortured romantic life. At one point, while cutting the connective tissue on a pig’s leg, she writes: “It’s sad, but a relief as well, to know that two things so closely bound together can separate with so little violence, leaving smooth surfaces instead of bloody shreds.”

    Her book tapped into the growing interest in old-school butchery and her experience slicing meat actually resulted in her eating less of it. She was an advocate for humanely raised and slaughtered animals.

    “People want to get their hands dirty. People want to participate in the process. People want to know where their food is coming from,” Powell said. “People don’t want the mystery anymore.”

    She is survived by her husband, Eric.

    NEW YORK: Food writer Julie Powell, who became an internet darling after blogging for a year about making every recipe in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” leading to a book deal and a film adaptation, has died. She was 49.

    Powell died of cardiac arrest on October 26 at her home in upstate New York, The New York Times reported. Her death was confirmed by Judy Clain, Powell’s email and editor-in-chief of Little, Brown.

    “She was a brilliant writer and a daring, original person and she will not be forgotten,” Clain said in a statement. ”We are sending our deepest condolences to all who knew and loved Julie, whether personally or through the deep connections she forged with readers of her memoirs.”

    Powell’s 2005 book “Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen” became the hit, Nora Ephron-directed film “Julie & Julia,” with the author portrayed in the movie by Amy Adams and Meryl Streep as Child.

    Her sophomore and last effort — titled “Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession” — was a bit jarring in its honesty. Powell revealed she had an affair, the pain of loving two men at once, of her fondness for sadomasochism and even a bout of self-punishing sex with a stranger.

    “People coming from the movie ‘Julie & Julia’ and picking up ‘Cleaving’ are going to be in for some emotional whiplash,” she told The Associated Press in 2009. “I don’t believe it’s going to be a Nora Ephron movie.”

    Powell began her affair in 2004 as she was putting the finishing touches on her first book, a time she writes when she was “starry-eyed and vaguely discontented and had too much time on my hands.”

    By 2006, she had landed an apprenticeship at a butcher shop two hours north of New York City, which offered an escape from her crumbling marriage and a place to explore her childhood curiosity with butchers.

    “The way they held a knife in their hand was like an extension of themselves,” she said. “I’m a very clumsy person. I don’t play sports. That kind of physical skill is really foreign to me, and I’m really envious of that.”

    The book explores the link between butchering and her own tortured romantic life. At one point, while cutting the connective tissue on a pig’s leg, she writes: “It’s sad, but a relief as well, to know that two things so closely bound together can separate with so little violence, leaving smooth surfaces instead of bloody shreds.”

    Her book tapped into the growing interest in old-school butchery and her experience slicing meat actually resulted in her eating less of it. She was an advocate for humanely raised and slaughtered animals.

    “People want to get their hands dirty. People want to participate in the process. People want to know where their food is coming from,” Powell said. “People don’t want the mystery anymore.”

    She is survived by her husband, Eric.

  • Meryl Streep: We’ve become accustomed to loving horrible people

    By IANS

    Veteran Hollywood star Meryl Streep will be seen playing President Orlean, who knows how to navigate her way around the system, in the upcoming satirical science fiction comedy Don’t Look Up. She says the anti-heroine is much less common and that people have become accustomed to loving horrible individuals.Talking about her role and how there’s been a rise in powerful female lead characters, Meryl said, “We’ve become accustomed to loving horrible people. The anti-heroine is much less common.”She added: “Take ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. Miranda Priestly is one of those people who are disagreeable, but I understood her more because she had such a burden on her. But President Orlean wears the burden of leading the country very lightly.””She hardly gives a second thought to it. It’s really about self-aggrandizement.”Netflix’s upcoming satirical science fiction black comedy Don’t Look Up tells the story of two low-level astronomers, who must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy the earth.The film features a stellar cast of Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill and Timothee Chalamet. It will start streaming on Netflix on December 24.

  • Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘Don’t Look Up’ is about ‘climate crisis, politicisation of science’

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio says he was drawn to his latest satirical sci-fi comedy “Don’t Look Up” as the film focuses on the urgency of climate crisis, a cause he has long wanted to highlight on screen.

    Directed by “The Big Short” helmer Adam McKay, the movie follows two low-level astronomers, played by DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, who attempt to warn everyone about an approaching comet that will destroy Earth.

    DiCaprio, who has been an active part of the global climate change movement for many years, said McKay has cleverly used the plot of a comet wiping out the earth to throw light on the larger point about climate crisis.

    “Adam created this film, which was about the climate crisis but he created a sense of urgency with it by making it about a comet that’s going to hit Earth within eight months time and how science has become politicised, there’s alternative facts,” the Oscar-winning actor said during a global virtual press conference of the film.

    Asked what kind of change he is looking forward to in the public perception of science and people who practice it, the 47-year-old actor said he just wants climate scientists to be taken seriously.

    “I was just thankful to play a character who is solely based on so many of the people that I’ve met from the scientific community, in particular, climate scientists, who’ve been trying to communicate the urgency of this issue. And feeling like they’re subjected to the last page on the newspaper… There’s too many other things that we’re inundated with,” DiCaprio said.

    For the press conference, the actor was joined by Hollywood veteran Meryl Streep, good friend-frequent collaborator Jonah Hill, Tyler Perry, Lawrence and McKay.

    The film features DiCaprio as Dr Randall Mindy, who, along with Lawrence’s Dr Kate Dibiasky, goes on a giant media tour to warn mankind of the approaching comet.

    The actor, best known for his work in films like “Titanic”, “Shutter Island”, “Django Unchanged” and “The Revenant”, credited McKay for crafting two distinct characters of the low-level astronomers.

    “I love the way he portrayed these two different characters, one that is incredibly outspoken, like a Greta Thunberg type of character and mine that is trying to play within the system.

    But I also love the way he was just incredibly truthful about how we’re so immensely distracted from the truth nowadays.

    “And then, of course, COVID hit and there’s a whole new scientific argument going on there. It’s just such an important film to be a part of, at this particular time,” he added.

    “Don’t Look Up” will receive a limited theatrical release on December 10, followed by a Netflix premiere on December 24.

    DiCaprio, who runs a non-profit organisation devoted to promoting environmental awareness, said starring in the film was also a way to make sure he collaborates with other artistes in spreading the word about the danger mankind faces.

    “Adam really cracked the code with this narrative. There are so many comparisons that we can make about the climate crisis with this storyline. As a whole, it’s probably the most important issue all of us could be talking about on a regular basis and it takes artists like this to change the narrative, to create conversation. I’m honoured to be part of it,” he added.

    “Don Look Up”, produced by McKay and Kevin Messick, also features Hollywood star Cate Blanchett, Timothee Chalamet and pop star Ariana Grande among others.

  • Adarsh Gourav to star alongside Meryl Streep, David Schwimmer in Apple’s ‘Extrapolations’

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: Adarsh Gourav, the breakout star of “The White Tiger”, is set to share screen space with the likes of Meryl Streep, Gemma Chan, Kit Harington, and David Schwimmer in Scott Z Burns’ climate change anthology drama series “Extrapolations”.

    The Apple TV Plus show’s star-studded cast also includes Sienna Miller, Tahar Rahim, Matthew Rhys, and Daveed Diggs, reported Deadline. The series tells stories of how the upcoming changes to the planet will affect love, faith, work and family on a personal and human scale.

    Told over a season of eight interconnected episodes, each story in the scripted series will track the worldwide battle for our mutual survival spanning the 21st century. Burns serves as writer, director and executive producer on “Extrapolations”, which comes from Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res.

    Gourav, who was nominated for the leading actor BAFTA for the Netflix film “The White Tiger”, will play Gaurav, a driver for hire on the show. Streep’s role has not been disclosed, but Miller will play marine biologist Rebecca Shearer.

    “Eternals” co-stars Harington and Chan will play Nicholas Bilton, the CEO of an industrial giant, and Natasha Alper, a single mother and micro-finance banker, respectively.

    “Friends” alum Schwimmer will play the role of Harris Goldblatt, a father to a teenage daughter and another best actor BAFTA nominee Rahim (“The Mauritanian”) stars as Ezra Haddad, a man struggling with memory loss.

    “Perry Mason” star Rhys essays the role of Junior, a real estate developer, with Diggs of “Hamilton” fame starring as Marshall Zucker, a rabbi in South Florida.

    Talking about “Extrapolation”, Burns said, “The only thing we know for sure about the future is that we are all going there together — and we’re taking with us our hopes, our fears, our appetites, our creativity, our capacity for love and our predilection to cause pain. These are the same tools that storytellers have been using since the beginning of time. Our show is just using them to keep time from running out.”

    Ellenberg, Greg Jacobs, Dorothy Fortenberry and Lindsey Springer are also attached to exec produce the series. The series is now under production.

  • Mark Ronson reveals engagement to Meryl Streep’s daughter Grace Gummer

    By PTI
    LOS ANGELES: Multiple Grammy-winning musician Mark Ronson has announced his engagement to Grace Gummer, the daughter of veteran Hollywood star Meryl Streep.

    The 45-year-old songwriter and record producer made the revelation during his appearance on “The FADER Undercover”, reported People magazine.

    “I got engaged last weekend,” Ronson said.

    The musician also opened up about the intimate moment that he shared with Gummer, 35, after they got engaged.

    “There’s a plaque for that somewhere. There’s a first kiss, very corny Hallmark first kiss plaque. But no, it was forever, it will be etched. It’s still my record,” he said.

    The couple had recently sparked engagement rumours when Gummer was spotted wearing a diamond ring on her left hand in May this year.

    Ronson and Gummer have been dating since 2020 after being first spotted on a dinner date in New York in September.

    This will be the second marriage for both the stars.

    Gummer, who is the third child of Streep and husband Don Gummer, was briefly married in 2019 to Tay Strathairn.

    The pair separated after just 42 days together, with Gummer officially filing for divorce in early 2020.

    Ronson was earlier married to French actor Josephine de La Baume from 2011 to 2018.