Word on the street is that Meryl Streep has another Oscar nomination coming her way courtesy of her newest movie, Florence Foster Jenkins. Streep's new role is that of Florence Foster Jenkins, a real woman who had her heart set on being a concert pianist until her first husband gave her syphilis, and mercury poisoning from her treatment caused irreparable damage to her left arm. Another side-effect of her mercury poisoning: hair loss. Jenkins' hair loss, and her use of wigs to cover it up, is depicted in the film, which raises the question of whether Streep is actually bald in Florence Foster Jenkins. Did the legendary actor decide to take the plunge?
It doesn't seem likely, and could you blame her? Singing was likely already enough commitment for Streep. After Jenkins suffered damage to her arm, she turned to singing, and, despite not being very good, she famously put on private concerts for friends and eventually headlined at Carnegie Hall, all of which is included in the movie. Now, Streep is largely considered one of the best actors to ever walk this earth, and she's already proven herself as a singer in musical roles in Mamma Mia! and Into the Woods . Of course, it's a bit of a change for the star to go from singing on key in musicals to singing badly on purpose. Yet, Streep does all of her own singing in Florence Foster Jenkins. But, just because she was game to lend her voice to the role doesn't mean she was willing to part with her hair.
Streep doesn't seem to have shaved her head for the role — or, if she did, she has yet to speak out about the experience. Considering the star's busy schedule — she makes roughly two films a year — it's not surprising that she would forgo parting with her hair. After all, what works physically for one film could be disastrous for another. Then there's the paparazzi factor. If Streep had gone bald for Florence Foster Jenkins, it's pretty likely that we would have heard about it. It seems more plausible that her famed makeup artist and hair stylist, J. Roy Helland, was responsible for Streep's look in the film.
It's probably for the best that Streep got to keep her hair during filming. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Streep called Florence Foster Jenkins "one of the most fun things I've ever done, without question." Who knows how she would describe filming if she had shaved her head.
Images: Paramount Pictures
