BWW Exclusive: Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant & More Discuss FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS, starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant hits theaters this Friday, August 12, 2016. Simon Helberg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Nina Arianda also star.

Directed by Stephen Frears and written by Nicholas Martin, FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS is set in 1940s New York, and tells the true story of the legendary New York heiress and socialite (Meryl Streep) who obsessively pursued her dream of BECOMING a great singer. THE VOICE she heard in her head was beautiful, but to everyone else it was hilariously awful. Her "husband" and manager, St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant), an aristocratic English actor, was determined to protect his beloved Florence from the truth. But when Florence decided to give a public concert at Carnegie Hall, St. Clair knew he faced his greatest challenge.

Earlier today, BWW participated in a press conference with the film's stars Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, Simon Helberg and director Stephen Frears. Highlights from the panel follow:

Recalling her first introduction to the real-life Florence Foster Jenkins, Streep explains, "I was in a play at drama school and the orchestra in the pit was made up of students in the Yale School of Music, and one lunch break they were all screaming and laughing in the corner and passing around a recording, so the actors went over and said 'what are you listening to?' and it was Florence!"

Grant shared that he admires his character St. Clair Bayfield, who shielded his wife from the truth about her singing. "I liked him, and admired him actually, both in the script, and when I dug deeper in his diaries and things here in Lincoln Center. He charmed me, he properly loved her and she loved him, it was a very moving thirty-five year romance." He adds, "It was definitely real love and I think that above all was why he protected her from the truth."

Originally, the actors were told that they would pre-record the singing portions of the film, however director Stephen Frears had other ideas. "We did record the whole thing, and then Stephen didn't use it", explained Streep. "So we did it all live. And that made us very alive, because it changed each time." She continues, "We set ourselves up to fail really badly, big time. It was more terrifying...but it was way more fun."

Added Frears, "Well the jazz that the performance seemed so essential to it all, Meryl doing it, Florence doing it, that was all that really mattered. So that is what you wanted to capture, not some sort of mechanical thing."

The film follows a host of recent film projects in which Streep shows off her vocal chops, including INTO THE WOODS and RICKY AND THE FLASH. "I have a very clear understanding of what my voice is, it's like a B voice, it hovers around B-/B+," the actress says modestly. "I have great friends who are wonderful singers and I know I'll never ever be able to do that. But singing through a character is something I know I can do and I like finding what it was in Florence's recordings because there are recordings of hers that remain very popular...so she's there for all to hear. And it's not just how bad it is, it's how aspirant, how hopeful it is. You hear her breathing wrong and in the wrong places. It led me to understand her and her exuberance and her will to make it right."

Asked what made her sign on to the project initially, Streep replied, "I said yes because Stephen said he had a project, and I wanted to work with him forever and ever." Adds Grant, "I was busy doing other things in life and then Stephen presented me with this script which to my great surprise was funny and moving and had a rather complex nuanced part for me. And it's all a matter of Meryl. I felt I would be no kind of man if I said no."

"It took a lot of convincing for me," joked Helberg. "I was dragged in kicking and screaming. Meryl? Hugh? Let me IMDB these people." He continued on a more serious note, "No, I was very excited to do it and I would have said yes also without reading it, but I did read it and I was blown away by the story and these beautiful, simple people."

Asked if the male leads felt intimidated at the prospect of working with the 19-time Oscar-nominated actress , Grant turned to Streep and joked, "Well I did love it when you forgot your lines on the first day. I've never been happier really." Adds Helberg, "I'm always in a heightened state of anxiety, but yeah, I was intimidated until I met Meryl and Hugh and then I was just moderately nervous. But in order to make something great you have to even the playing field so that you're collaborating and trying to figure out how to tell the story." Grant chimes in, "But I became gradually aware that I should be frightened by him [pointing to Helberg], because I knew you were in a sitcom, but I didn't realize how gigantic it was. And you're probably the richest man I ever met!"

Like her character Florence, who was always thrilled to be in front of a live audience, Streep would love to return to the Broadway stage and even shared her idea to shake things up at the Tony-winning musical HAMILTON. "Well I would like to see Hamilton with all the men's parts cast as women and all the women singing about who they love, cast as men. That would be revolutionary, truly revolutionary!" On a serious note she adds, "I'd like to do something on stage, but I don't want to do a revival. I want to do something new. So I'm looking around!"

Watch the trailer for FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS below:

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