Anne Hathaway Sings "She's Me Pal" to Meryl Streep
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 7:00PM 
The Kennedy Center Honors were a good hagiographic time last night on CBS (unless you were expecting something different in which case... where ya been? This is how lifetime tributes are). Musical theater fans would have had to enjoyed that endless Parade of Amazement when they trotted out a healthy cross section of Broadway's best female voices for the Barbara Cook homage (Sutton, Rebecca, Kelli, Patti, Audra + Glenn Close doing "Losing My Mind" !) but as for me.... as for me...
I got both my musical theater kicks and my 80s nostalgia and my Streep Mania and a current actress obsession (Hi, Annie!) all rolled up in one gift as Hathaway repurposed Streep's most indelible moment from Ironweed* (1987) to serenade Streep herself.
The line "her heart is as big as a ham" is accompanied by the splits, marking Anne Hathaway once again as a true kindred spirit PERFORMER/actress -- both ladies woulda been in vaudeville if they'd been born 100 years ago.
A+
I love that Hathaway can make her eyes well up with tears totally on cue. Acting is magic. The complete video is below. Hathaway comes in at the 11:40 mark.
*Ironweed was a flop in its day and I know so few people who have seen it but I still remember sitting in the movie theater absolutely electrified / paralyzed when Meryl belted out that "He's Me Pal" number for Jack Nicholson. At the time Meryl's musical-theater chops were a complete shock! It's easily one of my favorite moments from her entire lauded filmography.
Anne Hathaway, Broadway and Stage, Glenn Close, Ironweed, Meryl Streep, NYC
Reader Comments (25)
Here's to our next year Oscar winner Anne Hathway for Les Miserables. Anne got the personality, charm and talent all in one package.
I dug it, too, and was so happy/astounded to see Ironweed take the cake as the de facto centerpiece of the tribute. An Ironweed/Prada mash-up is an awfully odd mash-up, but they worked it. Tracey Ullman not as transporting as at AFI tribute, but still always, always, always welcome. (Meryl's facial expression seemed maybe not so thrilled that Tracey described her take on Margaret Thatcher as deeply sympathetic? Esp to that crowd?)
We of course rejoiced in the dreamy Cook tribute, esp Audra, Sutton, Rebecca, Laura, and the perpetually, hilariously consonant-phobic Patti. Fuck a consonant! I still can't say that I totally get Kelli O'Hara, but I still thought what she was doing was lovely. There is someone you can tell I am not mentioning, and to speak like a new member of the National Film Registry, that's all I have to say about that.
Thought Raphael Saadiq and Jennifer Nettles pretty much killed their Neil Diamond homages, too.
I thought the show was pretty good overall, better than I thought it wold be, but I wasn't expecting much. Anne Hathaway was a delight. I wished they showed more Meryl movie clips but realize she had to share the stage with 4 others. But I could watch Meryl clips all night!
Is it wrong that the moment I remember first from Ironweed is when Meryl and Jack argue and he throws his sandwich at her?
I love her performance in Ironweed, after Hunter in Broadcast it's the performance that should've taken the Oscar over Cher--by the way--the more I think about it, Streep in Ironweed is a supporting performance in the lead category. I said it before and I'll it again Streep's son is fucking hot.
Thanks Nathaniel for chiming in on this...I was expecting so much more from the Meryl tribute. They didn't sing her an ABBA song, not even I See Me from Death Becomes Her! They could've had so much (campy) fun with her segment...they kinda dropped the ball. I wish they had done some kind of clever song-and-dance revue with all of the performers as her nominated characters.
Although I love Anne as an actress...and I think she's a good singer...but when she does things like this (i.e., the Oscars) there is a certain neurotic "mommy-look-at-me" precociousness that I always pick up on...the tribute needed a bonafide seasoned entertainer...in the end, I wish they had gotten Shirley MacLaine or Cher to serenade Meryl.
Hehe about Patti's consonants...a classical singer friend of mine also complains about her vowels...and Jennifer Nettles was the highlight for me (even though she's got some weird vowels too)...incredible.
I liked Ironweed somewhat, but loved Streep's overall performance.. I agree the song she did was electrifying ... I also agree she should have been in Supporting category and might have actually won.
Let's get that Judy Garland biopic a-rollin' already! I'm beginning to fear it won't happen and after seeing this I really feel Hathaway will nail it if she ever gets the chance.
Isn't the "neurotic 'mommy-look-at-me" dynamic always played up when Anne and Emily gather to honor Meryl Streep? Same thing at the '07 Oscars as the Kennedy Center Honors.
(But of course, I love Anne as much as anyone.)
Meryl's singing He's me Pal is my favorite Meryl moment along with the famous Sophie's Choice choice scene.
Ellen - YES!
What a voice Anne Hathaway!
I've seen Ironweed too. The song and the handjob scene are truly great !
If there is any justice in the world Anne Hathaway will be our biggest and best star and indeed the next Meryl Streep.
Maybe it's because I've seen Barbara Cook tribute first (that's a tribute), but I've found Streep's disappointing. I don't know, I suppose I was expecting all Hollywood royalty would be there, and then there was only Prada's cast, Kevin Kline, DeNiro and Ullman. Can I at least pretend Close was there for Streep? It certainly doesn't help to refute those rumors that say that her peers don't love her.
at above poster
if you want a mass orgy of streep lovin' see the afi tribute. Everyone. Was. There.
iggy - - what? there are rumors that people don't love Streep? These i've never heard.
O.K. Nevermain - said iggy imitating Sofia Vergara's accent- I forgot is always better not to say anythin about Meryl.
The only thing that felt off to me about this tribute was the Tracey Ullman part ... it almost felt like they had not spoken for a long time, or else Meryl got uncomfortable with the talk about Thatcher. As for all Hollywood royalty coming out, that only happens when it's in Los Angeles and they came out for Meryl when she won the AFI (and people have given her everything else under the sun). Clearly her peers like her since they nominate her for almost everything she does. This made me think that Meryl is getting older (along with everyone else). But her career has been incredible and I do think people were genuinely sweet to her.
Wow... I just watched the Streep tribute, and it wasn't what I thought it would be. Hathaway was good, but I thought more stars would come out to pay tribute to her, New York or not. It was disappointing, but that's just my opinion. And I thought Close and her were good pals. SHE was there, too. She could've been on stage with Hathaway and company. Just cause they may be competing for an Oscar...
Where was Redford, Nicholson, MacLaine, Cher, Eastwood, et al. They've all praised her, right? Were they all sick? Was all of Hollywood sick? She deserved better for a considerably bigger tribute like the Kennedy Center Honors, and I'm not necessarily a Streep follower. However, she IS Hollywood royalty.
Anne Hathaway was amazing. Can't wait to see her in "Les Miserables".
Overall, I think the tribute to Meryl is fine. The balance of star power I think is appropriate given the fact that compared to others being honored; Meryl is such a big star that they don't want the presenters to overshadow her. Also, there is only about 15 min limit so they cannot cramp too many people to pay tribute to Meryl. And since Meryl is honored for her acting career unlike others who are more musically related, you can only honor her with speech; they can't honor her by acting on stage ; the singing tribute to her is already stretching it. Beside, I echo others who mentioned the AFI tribute which is specifically dedicated just for her to prove that more stars will come because they have the time to honor just her.
My production for this would have included tributes to Streep from great actresses (like Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet and Vanessa Redgrave), but otherwise, this was par for the course for the Kennedy Center Honors. They have limited time to honor several people, and Cher barely leaves her bedroom.
Sorry, Anne has too much charm and personality if you ask me. It's like she pukes rainbows lol. And I don't think she's right for Les Miz. She's not old enough nor does she have the range. I think she tries to hard at everything she does.
@ashley
yes but what an amazing voice!
Get it, Miss Anne! She was the best part of that tribute.