Meryl Streep is looking back on one of the most nerve-wracking moments of her career. While revisiting her time filming “Out of Africa,” the Oscar-winning actress recalled how a peaceful day on set quickly turned dangerous when a hippopotamus charged toward the crew, forcing everyone to retreat in a hurry.
The unexpected scare is just one of several candid revelations Streep has made recently, as she also opened up about past tensions with Goldie Hawn and a bold salary demand that once led her to walk away from an early version of “The Devil Wears Prada.”
Streep couldn’t help but gush as she looked back on her time working with the late Robert Redford.
During a recent career retrospective with Vanity Fair, the Oscar winner revisited her experience filming Out of Africa and reflected on one of its most memorable scenes.
Watching the moment where Redford’s Denys Hatton washes her hair by the river while reciting lines from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Streep described the actor in glowing terms.
“He was the most divine man in the world,” she said, before clarifying that the scene wasn’t meant to be provocative. “It’s not a sex scene. It’s a love scene… He was really amazing.”
Streep admitted she didn’t want the moment to end, recalling how natural and intimate it felt while filming.
Streep Recounts Run-in With Charging Hippo
Streep also recalled the real danger that unfolded while filming “Out of Africa.” She explained that the river scene had to be shot multiple times, even as hippos lingered nearby.
At one point, the situation escalated when a wild hippo suddenly charged toward the crew with its mouth wide open, forcing them to immediately stop filming and retreat to safety.
Despite the scare, Streep has long spoken fondly about her scene with Redford, as she previously recounted it at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, per Variety.
“It’s a sex scene in a way, because it’s so intimate,” she said at the time. “We’ve seen so many scenes of people f-cking, but we don’t see that loving touch, that care.”
Meryl Streep Previously Weighed In On The Scene
At the time, Streep also opened up about the daunting nature of filming the scene, particularly because of the wild animals nearby.
“We had lions, but they were imported from California, and they were supposedly fine — tame. They were not,” she said, per Metro.
“And the second thing we were told is the animal that kills the most people in Africa is the hippopotamus, if you get between the hippopotamus and the water,” Streep added. “So, we were shooting in the river, and the hippopotamuses were right above it. I don’t know if they show that in the movie, I can’t remember, but I was aware of it!”
Streep Reveals ‘Beef’ With Goldie Hawn
Elsewhere in her interview with Vanity Fair, Streep revealed that she once “had a beef” with Hawn while filming the 1992 film “Death Becomes Her.” According to her, Hawn had a character that she found off-putting while they filmed together.
“Goldie, she was always late to set,” Streep recalled of Hawn. “But she was so adorable. And I’m always on time, you know, and annoying. But she’s late. And she had a red convertible, I remember, and she’d drive herself to set. So that was probably the problem.”
Meryl Streep Turned Down ‘Devil Wears Prada’ For More Money
Streep revealed she nearly walked away from one of her most iconic roles, all over money.
Speaking on the TODAY show alongside Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci, the actress shared that she initially turned down The Devil Wears Prada because the offer didn’t meet her expectations.
“I knew it was going to be a hit,” she said, explaining that she believed the script had massive potential from the start.
Streep decided to test her leverage, rejecting the initial offer and doubling her asking price. Reflecting on the moment, the actress admitted it was a turning point in how she valued herself in the industry.
“I’m 56. It took me this long to understand that I could do that,” she said. “They needed me, I felt.”
Two decades later, she’s back as Miranda Priestly in the newly released sequel.
