“Take me back to the Motherland.”
Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep is eager to land the role of much-loved South African singer Miriam Makeba in a $20m biopic to be shot on location in Makeba’s home country, it was announced today.
In an interview with The Times, Streep said she was keen to promote herself based on her strong African credentials.
Streep said: “As an African, I really understand the plight of my people under apartheid better than most so I should be the obvious choice for this role. I mean who could play Miriam better than me? No one, that’s who.”
Streep claims to have conducted intensive research to win the role including eating at a Nigerian restaurant in Brooklyn, watching the Gods Must Be Crazy on DVD and playing Paul Simon’s Graceland over and over again as she said she didn’t have any of Makeba’s music on her ‘gramophone’.
Streep continued: “As an African, albeit a blond, blue-eyed one, I feel a strong connection to Mama Africa as we’ve led similar lives.
“Just like Miriam I too have experienced great adoration in my home country and I too have lived under a brutal inhuman regime. That was when Reagan was president.
“Also, I went a whole 12 years without winning an Oscar so I know what exile feels like.”
Unfortunately, due to Meryl Streep’s over enthusiastic interest in playing Makeba the project was cancelled. Streep is now in talks to star in another African epic where she hopes to snag the role of Queen Nzinga of the Mbundu people of Angola.
Streep is currently taking voice lessons from Charlize Theron in preparation.
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