Leonardo DiCaprio seems to be protective of costar Meryl Streep while making Don’t Look Up as director Adam McKay recalled. In an interview with The Guardian, McKay, 53, discussed Streep’s role as President Orlean in the star-studded Netflix movie, which also stars Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, Timothée Chalamet, Tyler Perry, Cate Blanchett, Ariana Grande, and more.
The filmmaker explained that Streep was all-in on her character’s brief nude scene, though DiCaprio was unsure. “She is fearless. And yes, that is a body double. But you know who had a problem with it? Leo,” said McKay. “Leo just views Meryl as film royalty, although maybe royalty is not a compliment… but as such a special figure in the history of film. He didn’t like seeing her with the lower-back tattoo, walking for a second naked.”
The director went on saying, “He said something to me like, ‘Do you really need to show that?’ And I was like, ‘It’s President Orlean, it’s not Meryl Streep.’ But she didn’t even blink,” he continued. “She didn’t even bring it up.” McKay also explained how he got such an A-list cast for the disaster comedy. “I had a couple of people I wanted right from the jump. Like, I wrote the roles for Jennifer Lawrence and Rob Morgan. I sort of had Meryl Streep in mind, but you never dare to think that you’re going to get her,” he said.
McKay further explained, “When she signed on, it then became just a cascading effect. And then when Leonardo DiCaprio came in, I realized there was this happy accident, where this stellar cast was actually enforcing the point of view of the movie, that we’re constantly distracted by celebrity and bright colors, and low news versus high news, and contrarian points of view.”
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“Of course,” added McKay, “it didn’t hurt that they all happen to be brilliant actors. So yeah, it got slightly embarrassing. At one point I almost found myself apologizing to my director friends.” In a press release last month, DiCaprio opened up about working with Streep in Don’t Look Up. “I haven’t worked with Meryl since I was 18 years old, and she had this incredible monologue, so to witness her mastery as an actor was a real gift,” he said.
Don’t Look Up star explained, “And then putting her in a room with Jonah Hill, who I’ve worked with and see as one of the greatest improvisational actors in the world, was inspiring. They nailed their characters and portrayed them as completely unhinged, undependable leaders, which was a huge motivation for Jen and I for the rest of the film. It was amazing to be reunited with both of them.” Don’t Look Up will be available to stream on Netflix on December 24.