Meryl Streep says she had fun playing US President in 'Don't Look Up'

Hollywood veteran Meryl Streep says for her role of the US President in ''Don't Look Up'', she drew inspiration from many ''preposterous people'' who put themselves in public places, ''shamelessly.'' Filmmaker Adam McKay's apocalyptic comedy stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as two low-level astronomers, who go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet earth.

Streep features in the film as the indifferent President, Janie Orlean, a character that she had fun playing.

''There were so many places to take things from because there are so many preposterous people who put themselves in public places, shamelessly. It was kind of fun to put together this character that was just pure Id, just what her appetite wanted and about amassing power, money, more power and more money, and nice hair and nails. But there were no fellow feelings,'' the 72-year-old actor told reporters during a virtual global press conference.

The actor was joined at the press conference by DiCaprio, Lawrence and McKay, Tyler Perry, Jonah Hill, and rapper Kid Cudi.

Streep was one of the most vocal critics of former US President Donald Trump, slamming him for his divisive rhetoric. Many have speculated that her performance in the film takes a dig at the Trump administration as the former president was notorious for his skepticism of climate change issues.

The actor said the cost of being in public service is to be able to make a ''big sacrifice'' and the world needs good leaders, urgently. ''You really have to make a big sacrifice, your family makes a sacrifice and you have to be willing to do that. It's amazing that we get good people to do it. But we need them right now. More than ever,'' she added.

Streep said ''Don't Look Up'' focuses on the importance of combating the climate crisis and one of the ways to do it is by electing leaders who understand the gravity of the situation.

''Smart people, people who don't have a scientific background, everyone pushes it (the information of climate crisis) away, because it's just too painful. And I said to Adam, when we first talked about promoting it, that you got to give three things (to the audience) that they can do. It would be great to have three things, but if it were only that simple. ''But one of them is obviously to vote for people who believe and understand the imminence of this threat to all of our lives. Rich people, poor people, everybody, everything flows from this. Every issue of injustice, inequity, everything if we don't survive, none of it matters,'' she added.

McKay said he decided to make ''Don't Look Up'' in the backdrop of a sci-fi comedy as he realized the topic of climate crisis should be dealt with in a way where the audience introspects about the state of the world while having a laugh.

''When we were talking about the idea, we wanted to deal with this subject, the climate crisis, which is so overwhelming--it's arguably the greatest threat to life in the history of mankind--but if you're able to laugh, that means you have some distance. I actually think that's really important.

''You can feel the urgency, you can feel sadness, you can feel loss while also having a sense of humor. That was really the intention with this movie and after the crazy last 5-10 years we've all had across the planet, I thought, 'God wouldn't it be nice to laugh at some of this and feel the other feelings.' So that was the approach,'' the filmmaker said.

McKay, however, said humor is not used to dilute the chilling reality, and future, of the climate crisis. It is used merely to make the subject more palatable.

''We get hit with sort of the thumping, doomsday thought quite a bit, which by the way, is totally legit when it comes to climate change. But I did think it was important that people be allowed to laugh and have some distance.

''It's also a great unifier. You can't really fake laughter. It's not a political thing, they've tried, but it never really works whenever you try and fake that. So that was the thinking behind it,'' he added.

Lawrence remembered how the first day of shoot required her to learn the lyrics of a rap song, which she had to perform for the camera while crew members, all masked up due to COVID, watched her.

''It took a while to learn the lyrics of the song. That ended up being my first scene at work in the movie and it was horrifying because I was in this huge hangar, it was so quiet, and I had to rap. It was horrendous! In the movie, it is of just five seconds. I wish I had known that. But it was very embarrassing,'' she added. Hill, who features in the film as President Orlean's son and Chief of Staff, said he was amazed at how the filmmaker, known for movies like ''The Big Short'' and ''Vice'', infused humor to make a point.

''Adam walked the craziest tightrope in this movie, which I think is almost impossible but he pulled it off, which is like, taking things that are terrifying and using comedy to maybe make them digestible in some way or palatable or entertaining in some way. ''I found the whole movie to just be like the truth, and terrifying and hilarious... There's something deeply human that he tapped into,'' Hill added.

''Don't Look Up'' is scheduled to be released on Netflix on December 24.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)