Nothing says “Happy birthday, Jesus” quite like a mean, angry shrew incoherently screaming at everyone.
But enough about Christmas with the in-laws.
"August: Osage County," starring Meryl Streep as substance- and people-abusing Violet, the addled and spiteful matriarch of the darkly dysfunctional Weston family, was originally headed for a Dec. 25 release in metro Atlanta but opens Jan. 10 instead.
The film is adapted from the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tracy Letts, which was staged at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre several years after its successful run on Broadway. At the 2011 Suzi Bass Awards, Alliance artistic director Susan V. Booth won in the directing category for her work with the play, and Tess Malis Kincaid won lead play actress for her role as Barbara, one of the long-suffering Weston daughters. (Brenda Bynum played Violet.)
Metro Atlanta native Julia Roberts, who plays Barbara in the movie, is among the film's heavy-hitting cast, which includes Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Sam Shepard and Misty Upham.
We got a chance to talk with Julianne Nicholson, who plays the tragically sympathetic Ivy, while she was in Atlanta last year working on a Sundance miniseries called "The Red Road."
“I saw the play on Broadway,” she said. “The story’s amazing. The writing’s amazing.”
Shortly after the movie and play begin, the Westons all come together, summoned by an emergency. The family tragedy is compounded as long-simmering bitterness bubbles over and ugly secrets emerge. Fighting becomes physical only sporadically, but wounds inflicted with words hurt all the same.
If the Westons were a real family, they’d no doubt have a reality show by now.
Streep and Roberts are both nominated for Golden Globe awards for their roles in the movie; Oscar nominations come out Jan. 16. Streep’s Golden Globe nomination is in the “Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy” category, a curious placement since there’s not a lot of music in the movie and we don’t remember laughing much. Roberts was nominated for Best Supporting Actress honors.
Roberts’ and Streep’s characters engage in the film’s most spectacular confrontations, and both were incredible to work with, Nicholson said.
“Julia was so generous,” she said. “We really started to feel like sisters. From Day One, Julia was so warm and so excited. That was infectious.”
Streep in particular was a workhorse on the set.
“She blew me away every time she opened her mouth,” Nicholson said. “She does more work than anyone else and she’s just magic. What I learned from watching Meryl was preparedness, doing the work before you arrived.”
Known for roles in projects including television’s “ER,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “Boardwalk Empire,” along with movies including “Keep the Lights On,” Nicholson was honored to work with such industry greats.
“It was really confidence building,” she said. “It was like, I’m here. I’m here with the best.”
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