Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren was only cast in a new epic movie because Meryl Streep turned down her part.

The star plays the wife of War And Peace author Leo Tolstoy in new movie The Last Station, but she wasn’t director Michael Hoffman’s first choice for the role.

But Mirren insists she is unfazed by the knowledge she failed to make the top of Hoffman’s wish list - and instead the knock back inspires her to work even harder to prove herself.

She says, “Michael, I know very well that you offered the part to Meryl Streep before me, but it just makes me want to work all the harder. It’s a really great role, and Meryl: I’m afraid you made a big mistake.”

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WENN

WENN

Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Robert DeNiro have all taken out newspaper ads appealing to leaders of the Screen Actors Guild to start talks with movie studios in an effort to avert a possible strike. SAG members will reportedly hold a mass walk-out this summer after their current contract expires on June 30th if negotiations with studio bosses over pay and conditions do not prove fruitful.

The Hollywood stars want SAG directors to enter talks with studios before it’s too late to avoid strike action, and took out ads in trade papers Variety and The Hollywood Reporter to appeal to the leaders of the 120,000-strong union.

Their call comes just days after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) members voted to end a three-month strike over Internet royalties - which has crippled the American TV and movie industry - earlier this week. SAG national executive director Doug Allen insisted the union would open negotiations “at a time that will most benefit our members”.

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I can’t wait for the “Mamma Mia” movie! I finall saw this play this summer- and I totally loved it. I had the worst seats, but from what I could actually see & hear it was a totally fun play.  I wonder if the movie is going to be any good.  How could Meryl Streep do wrong?

Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman will star in the movie adaptation of John Patrick’s Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning play Doubt for Miramax Films. Shanley wrote the script and will direct the movie. The story is about a principal of a Bronx Catholic School (Streep), a nun who’s a strict disciplinarian, who makes pedophile accusations against a popular priest (Hoffman). Streep just finished work on the Gavin Hood-directed Rendition and the Robert Redford-directed Lions for Lambs, and she is preparing to start shooting on a screen adaptation of the ABBA musical Mamma Mia!. Hoffman just starred in the Sidney Lumet-directed Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead as well as alongside Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in the Mike Nichols-directed Charlie Wilson’s War. He will next work on the Charlie Kaufman-directed Synecdoche, New York, and he’s currently starring at the Public Theater in Jack Goes Boating. He will next appear on-screen this summer in Savages, which also stars Laura Linney.

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