So naturally, when HuffPost UK got an invitation to attend a press conference to promote their new film \u2018The Post\u2019<\/a>,\u00a0I jumped at the chance to go and sit for an afternoon basking in the glow of cinema royalty.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s everything that went through my head on that fateful Thursday\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n Yeah, it wasn\u2019t the most graceful of starts. <\/span>Sans <\/span><\/em>umbrella, I rocked up to the famous Claridge\u2019s hotel in Mayfair – where the press conference was to take place – absolutely drenched from the rain. My Primark trainers had started letting water in. This was not how I needed to present myself when I inevitably charmed Meryl Streep, became her best friend and talked my way into \u2018Mamma Mia! 3: Here We Go Again, Again\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n Don\u2019t get me wrong, this wasn\u2019t my first time going to a posh hotel for a press conference, but this was next level. We\u2019re talking crystal chandeliers, wall-to-floor mirrors, floral displays everywhere, the works.<\/span><\/p>\n On my way to the French Salon (not to be confused with Audrey\u2019s salon from \u2018Coronation Street\u2019, you understand), there was someone around every corner to point me in the right direction. <\/span>That\u2019s<\/span><\/em> how fancy we\u2019re talking.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n Considering it\u2019s usually a case of the bigger the star, the bigger the wait for them to actually turn up, this Holy Trinity of Hollywood were only 15 minutes behind schedule when they sat down at the long table (\u2018Notting Hill\u2019 got it pretty right, to be honest), ready for a grilling. <\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps the emotional weight of their 41 collective Oscar nominations was slowing them down.<\/span><\/p>\n I tried, OK?<\/p>\n Quite literally! The first thing he said into the microphone was a joke that he was late because he\u2019d been waiting for a flourishing of trumpets to announce Meryl\u2019s arrival, immediately followed by his best impression of a flourishing of trumpets. A refreshingly unselfconscious A-list star.<\/p>\n Between that, his jokes about having two-cocktail lunches on set and actual swearing (what would Sheriff Woody say?), it became quickly apparent that Tom Hanks is every bit as lovely as you\u2019d hope, with a little bit extra thrown in.<\/p>\n Obviously she\u2019s not going to pack in this acting malarky and pursue a career in stand-up, but we could imagine being the most Oscar-nominated actor in history would go to some people\u2019s heads, but Meryl was actually quite playful, in particular with Tom Hanks, who she would occasionally interrupt to crack jokes and have a bit of fun with.<\/p>\n When you think how seriously certain members of the acting glitterati can take themselves, it was nice to see that Meryl likes to have a bit of fun on the job.<\/p>\n Seriously, the man<\/a> was like Voldemort.<\/p>\n No one had any hesitation speaking about <\/em>him, and his administration (with Steven Spielberg saying he\u2019d have been just as keen to do \u2018The Post\u2019 had \u201ca certain election\u201d gone another way, and both stars commenting on how relevant the film is in today\u2019s political climate) but the words \u201cDonald\u201d and \u201cTrump\u201d were not uttered once during the initial Q&A.<\/p>\n When asked about female<\/a>-led stories, both Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks said the key would be putting more women<\/a> in charge behind the scenes, as well as in front of the camera<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n After listing the strong women<\/a> he\u2019s worked under over the course of his career, Tom went as far as saying he thinks executives and producers should go out of their way to redress the balance and introduce more women<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n He said: \u201cWe are going to see a different proportion, I think. <\/span>More women<\/a> are going be awarded their positions on the merit and quality of their work. And for a while, why not just literally… make it specific?<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no reason, for a while, to say \u2018we need more women<\/a> on this board, we need more women<\/a> running these departments\u2019, so it actually represents the numbers as they truly are in society.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Once the initial Q&A with a presenter was over, the journalists in the audience were given the chance to pose some questions to the team, starting with a question about whether Meryl thought that Oprah Winfrey should run for president.<\/span><\/p>\n She gave a typically diplomatic answer about how Oprah \u201cshowed what a Presidential candidate <\/span>should <\/span><\/em>talk like\u201d and how she has \u201cthe voice of a leader\u2026 whether she\u2019s leading us to the candidate we need or whether she is the candidate herself\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n The journalist in question then joked that her answer \u201csounded like a yes\u201d, which it quite literally didn\u2019t, but things then moved on.<\/span><\/p>\n Why yes, I do believe it was.<\/span><\/p>\n The next reporter asked Meryl Streep, following the black dress protest at the Golden Globes at the Baftas<\/a> and the Oscars<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Putting on her best dejected voice (and a hint of a British accent), Meryl remarked: \u201cWell, sadly. We haven\u2019t been invited to the Baftas, so I can\u2019t [comment on that]\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n To clarify, while \u2018The Post\u2019 was up for six Golden Globes, eight Critics\u2019 Choice Awards and has already generated plenty of Oscar buzz, the Baftas didn\u2019t give it a single nod when the nominations were revealed last week.<\/span><\/p>\n If we\u2019re going to pick up on her slight Baftas shade, we should probably mention the fact that Meryl then gave an articulate response to the rest of the question, discussing how the \u2018Time\u2019s Up\u2019 movement is still in its early stages, so it\u2019s really impossible to say what its next step will be.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs a movement, it\u2019s pretty interesting to be involved, she said, \u201cbecause there isn\u2019t a leadership hierarchy, we don\u2019t know who the top dog is, we have a hive. Everybody\u2019s making honey, everybody\u2019s doing good work, but it\u2019s sort of a moving thing.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s good, because [this movement] needs to fly\u2026 through many different industries, many different enterprises, the government, the military, the church. The inequities and the imbalance in power isn\u2019t just in politics.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe exploitation of women<\/a> and their labour and reticence to come forward goes right through societies. So it\u2019s a growing thing, and the most heartening thing about it to me is that it doesn\u2019t feel like a one-off. It hasn\u2019t gone away. And I don\u2019t think it will. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll go backwards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The third and final question from the audience was about the French reaction to the #MeToo movement, specifically a letter co-signed by 100 prominent French women including Catherine Deneuve who suggested it had ventured too far<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n After asking the journalist who posed the question a bit about it, Meryl pondered, before declaring: \u201cI\u2019d better talk about this when I know what I\u2019m talking about.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Only speaking about an issue when you\u2019ve properly researched and know what you\u2019re talking about – <\/span>that<\/span><\/em>, folks, is how you last 30 years in showbusiness.<\/span><\/p>\n Suddenly we were no longer in the presence of Hollywood greatness, after just three questions from the audience. I did hear murmuring from cameramen at the back of the room there was a possibility the audience questions section had been cut short due to there not having been enough asked about the film itself.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m yet to response to receive responses to requests for comment on this though, so I\u2019m taking that with a pinch of salt.<\/span><\/p>\n It was back out into the rain for me, without so much as a hint of a cameo in \u2018Mamma Mia! 3\u2019. Next time, maybe.<\/span><\/p>\n You can read our verdict on \u2018The Post\u2019, which is out now in UK cinemas, here<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \nwww.huffingtonpost.co.uk\/entry\/the-post-meryl-streep-tom-hanks-interview_uk_5a58a6afe4b0720dc4c646ce<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 12 Thoughts That Went Through My Head During ‘The Post’ Press Conference When it comes to Hollywood power trios, there are few that shine as brightly as Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. So naturally, when HuffPost UK got an invitation to attend a press conference to promote their new film \u2018The Post\u2019,\u00a0I jumped … Continue reading 12 Thoughts That Went Through My Head During ‘The Post’ Press Conference<\/span> 1. \u201cThe absolute state of me.\u201d<\/h4>\n
2. \u201cClaridge\u2019s is… something else.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n
3. \u201cWe\u2019re dealing with some surprisingly punctual film stars here…\u201d<\/h4>\n
4. \u201cYeah,\u00a0this photo is really crap\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/h4>\n
![](\"http:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/5a58ae9c1f00003c00db862c.png\")
I am 100% not a professional photographer<\/strong>” alt=”I am 100% not a professional photographer<\/strong>” data-credit=”HuffPost” data-portal-copyright=”HuffPost” data-provider=”Other” data-provider-asset-id=”206024571″ data-has-syndication-rights=”false”><\/p>\n5. \u201cTom Hanks is an absolute hoot.\u201d<\/h4>\n
6. \u201cAnd so is Meryl Streep, for that matter.\u201d<\/h4>\n
7. \u201cWe are 10 minutes in, and nobody has dared speak Donald Trump\u2019s name\u2026\u201d<\/h4>\n
![](\"http:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/5a58a85b2200004b00b4e184.jpeg\")
The trio at the film’s premiere, the night before the press conference<\/strong>” alt=”The trio at the film’s premiere, the night before the press conference<\/strong>” data-credit=”David Fisher\/REX\/Shutterstock” data-portal-copyright=”David Fisher\/REX\/Shutterstock” data-provider=”Rex” data-provider-asset-id=”206024496″ data-has-syndication-rights=”false”><\/p>\n8. \u201cStrong answer from Tom Hanks about getting women<\/a> recognised in the film industry.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n
9. \u201cAs if the first question Meryl Streep has been asked is about Oprah.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n
10. \u201cErrrrrm, was that some shade at the Baftas?\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n
11.\u00a0\u201cGood answer all the same, though, Meryl.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n
12.\u00a0\u201cThere is a definite reason Meryl Streep is Meryl Streep.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n
13. \u201d…And that\u2019s that then.\u201d<\/h4>\n