After tackling some of the biggest roles in Hollywood – that of Margaret Thatcher, Anna Wintour and Julia Child – the Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep is about to get her Greek on, as she will transform herself into legendary Greek opera singer Maria Callas in the new HBO movie, Master Class.
A film version of Terrence McNally’s hit Broadway play, that centres on Callas’ series of master classes given at famed performance school Juilliard, Master Class is set to begin filming in January,
In the play, the temperamental diva Callas is running a class for students, intertwined with stories about her career and personal life, which included being dumped by Aristotle Onassis for Jacqueline Kennedy.
Included in her musings are her younger years as an ugly duckling, her fierce hatred of her rivals, the unforgiving press that savaged her early performances, her triumphs at La Scala, and her affair with Aristotle Onassis.
The film will be directed by Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Birdcage) who has previously teamed up with Streep for Silkwood, Heartburn, Postcards From the Edge and Angels in America.
The play Master Class debuted on Broadway in 1995 starring Australian actress Zoe Caldwell as Callas and co-starring Audra McDonald. Others who’ve tackled the role include Patti LuPone and Tyne Daly.
Streep, 64, holds the record for the most Academy Award nominations – 18 times since her first nomination in 1979. Her last win was in 2012 for portraying former prime minister of the UK Margaret Thatcher in Iron Lady.