Kevin Etten, the writer of meta Nic-Cage-as-Nick-Cage movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, has confessed that he’s been thinking of other actors that a similar concept could work with. And he’s excited by the idea of Meryl Streep playing Meryl Streep.
Coincidentally (or maybe not), Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep co-starred in another meta movie – the Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze collaboration Adaptation. Streep plays real-life author Susan Orlean, and Nic Cage plays writer Charlie Kaufman and his (fictional) twin brother Donald, who become embroiled in trying to adapt Orlean’s book The Orchid Thief.
In an interview with ScreenRant, Etten and director Tom Gormican said they’d played around with the idea of an “Unbear-averse” where different actors would play versions of themselves. Etten said; “We have definitely explored it. It’s impossible not to when you start going through the names and the possibilities. Somebody just threw out Meryl Streep to do a movie where Meryl Streep plays Meryl Streep, which is the best idea I’ve heard in a while because I’m curious.”
There would certainly be plenty of material to draw from if Streep were to reference her own career. Of her 94 current credits on IMDb, she has been Oscar-nominated for 21 of them, so even narrowing down the roles to the most critically-acclaimed would still leave plenty of material. The 73-year-old actress has recently played the President of the United States, so she’s showing no signs of slowing down.
While another Unbearable Weight movie may stretch the fun concept too thin, it is an interesting thought experiment to imagine which stars could effectively play themselves, which inevitably involves having a healthy sense of self-deprecating humour.
If you’re a fan of watching Nicolas Cage go wild, check out our guide to the best comedy movies.