We all missed Meryl at this year’s Oscars – due to an administrative error she wasn't nominated – but this new Florence Foster Jenkins trailer should help fill that gap. There’s plenty of Meryl Streep to go round as she charts the titular opera singer’s path to a grandstand Carnegie Hall concert.
Stephen Frears’ latest sees Streep tackle a role she claims she was born for: unconvincing warbler. “I can really fuck opera up,” Streep jokes on the Empire podcast. “The woman has met the role in this case.”
When she wasn’t dressing up as Brunhilde and belting out Wagner, Jenkins was using her wealth to drive her passion for music. "The thing about her was it was equal parts how far off the rails she got with the arpeggios,” explains Streep, "but also the great joy she took in doing it and how much she loved the music. She was conveying that as well, and it was an irresistible combination.”
Hugh Grant plays Jenkins’ loyal husband and manager, St Clair Bayfield, who tries to shield her from any ridicule her singer attracts while keeping her dream alive. That dream? A wartime gig at New York’s most prestigious concert venue, with stars like Noël Coward and Tallulah Bankhead in attendance and queues around the block.
Find out how she played when Florence Foster Jenkins gets its UK release on May 6. Simon Helberg, Rebecca Ferguson and Nina Arianda all lend support. Head here for a look at the teaser trailer.