CEBU, Philippines – Somebody please tell Meryl Streep. And why not Mike Nichols, too? Upon learning that a publicity photo of her in character as legendary Greek soprano Maria Callas had ended up as an etched portrait displayed prominently at a posh Greek restaurant in The Netherlands, actress Cherie Gil posted this reaction on Twitter on Tuesday: “I hope Meryl Streep finds out about this and peg it for her movie version of Callas too!”
As first reported by InterAksyon, the portrait of Gil as Callas was discovered by a Filipina tourist named Noemi Katuin inside the Platia restaurant in the small town of Druten.
There, she learned from a waiter that the restaurant’s management had commissioned an artist two years ago to do a portrait of Callas, and the artist mistakenly copied a photo of Gil in character as Callas from the 2010 Philippine production of Terrence McNally’s play, “Master Class.”
That same play is being adapted into an upcoming HBO made-for-television movie by director Mike Nichols and it will star legendary actress Streep as mentioned by Cherie in her tweet.
Last year, Cherie again played an opera singer, a fictitious one at that, who lost her voice and retreated to her hometown in Negros in “Sonata,” the acclaimed indie feature of Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes where she was nominated for Best Actress in the Gawad Urian awards.
Meanwhile, Katuin said she had no idea what the restaurant’s management did with the painting after she made them realize it was not Callas.
“They said they were gonna try to go back to the artist who did it and/or get a refund or replacement. We left Druten so I really have no clue what happened after that. I am now in Purmerend in the Netherlands and then will be off to Barcelona where my hubby is based,” Katuin told InterAksyon in an online interview. – Interaksyon.com