Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Phillip Seymour Hoffman star in the upcoming drama, Doubt, in which Meryl and Amy play nuns in the 1960s. Hoffman plays a priest who is accused of indiscretions. For the film, Meryl and Amy both were swathed head to toe in a full nun's habit. But Meryl didn't mind at all.
Some actresses might find the prospect of playing a nun -- dressed from head to toe in a black habit -- daunting, but not Meryl Streep, and not because, with her talents, she seems able to do anything.
"I found nuns' habits to be liberating, not only because they are a negation of things that women in the outside world have to contend with, but also because they focus on the true essence of a woman -- her face and her hands," Streep said while discussing her starring role in "Doubt."
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Both Streep and Adams met with the real Sister James, a 70-year-old nun after whom Shanley modeled Adams' character both in spirit and in name.
"She was fantastic," Adams said. "She was also so thrilled by it. They now call her Sister Hollywood. She was at the premiere and stayed longer than I did."
When Streep complimented Adams' performance, the latter dead-panned, "It takes a bitch to play virtue."
Although both actresses recently starred in musicals -- Streep in "Mamma Mia" and Adams in "Enchanted" -- there was no song and dance on the set of "Doubt."
"I kept on hoping," Adams said. "But there was no 'Dancing Queen' from Meryl."
A full habit certainly hides a multitude of sins. But it would be terribly hot in the summer. Doubt is in selected theaters nationwide now.
