Meryl Reluctant to Play Queen of Mean in 'August'

Meryl Streep plays the matriarch of the ultimate dysfunctional family in August: Osage County, and she tells ET's Rob Marciano that she was reluctant to play such a mean-spirited person onscreen, a characterthat co-star Julia Roberts said set "the new gold standard for cruelty"! Watch the video...

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Based on Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize-winning play, August: Osage County tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.

Directed by John Wells and opening in New York and L.A. theaters December 27 and everywhere January 10, the film also stars Ewan McGregor, Benedict Cumberbatch, Abigail Breslin, Dermot Mulroney, Juliette Lewis, Sam Shepard and Chris Cooper.