Is there any film more joyful than Mamma Mia? Nothing will ever convince me that the filming process was anything more than a big ol’ party for the entire cast, and even Pierce Brosnan’s questionable ‘singing’ isn’t enough to put me off. In fact... It makes the film even more enjoyable?
Anyway, it turns out that despite how much fun we all had watching this film for the first time, not everybody was quite so thrilled about the rehearsal process. Namely: Meryl Streep’s family.
I don’t know how it’s possible, either.
How Meryl Streep rehearsed for Mamma Mia!
Despite me being very convinced that after that Winner Takes It All performance, I’d listen to Meryl Streep sing the dictionary, during the rehearsal process for Mamma Mia!, her family were... let’s say, underwhelmed.
According to an interview back in 2008, Meryl’s family got so frustrated with her rehearsals that the icon actually rehearsed... in a closet. Speaking to BANG Showbiz, Meryl said: “I think I have sung all of these songs about 70,000 times - starting in my closet, which was the only place my family would allow me to practise, all the way to Pinewood and Holland Park where we were living.
“But I never got sick of singing these songs - you just cannot be excited when it starts!”
Well, indeed!
Meryl also said that she was nervous about her eldest son Henry seeing the film as she expected him to be embarrassed watching her sing and dance on stage but added, “My son will be appalled, but I think he will actually like it because he is a musician and he will get a kick out of it - he will appreciate the musicality of it.”
He was a fool if he didn’t, if you ask me.