Triple Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep says she worked hard to make her own the witch character in the movie musical Into the Woods -- even though she saw Bernadette Peters originate the role on Broadway in 1987.
"I had seen Bernadette do the witch 20, maybe 30, years ago and I remember it vividly. It was etched in my soul. Everybody said [Stephen] Sondheim's music is unsingable, whatever. It's too complicated, but those melodies lived in my head for, well, years after hearing them. I didn't buy the album, but it was in my head," Streep said at a recent New York press conference. "I wanted to just find my own inner witch and I didn't even think about copying.... Usually, I'd steal from somebody. Something from somebody. Usually, I steal from men because nobody notices."
Directed by Rob Marshall, Into the Woods co-stars Christine Baranski, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick and Chris Pine.