Meryl Streep in talks to play Margaret Thatcher

LOS ANGELES – Meryl Streep is in talks to reteam with her ‘Mamma Mia!’ director Phyllida Lloyd for ‘The Iron Lady’, a biopic of controversial and long-governing former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher
Jim Broadbent is in talks to play Thatcher’s husband, Denis, for the film which is being co-produced and co-financed by Pathe and Film 4.

‘The Iron Lady’ is based on a script by Abi Morgan and, as described by Pathe, ‘tells the story of a woman who smashed through the barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male-dominated world. The story concerns power and the price that is paid for power, and is a surprising and insightful portrait of an extraordinary and complex woman.’Damien Jones (‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’) is producing. Jones was developing another Thatcher biopic, simply titled ‘Thatcher’, which was originally developed with BBC Films. That version was set during the Falkland War.If a deal is completed, the role of Thatcher would be the highest-profile character yet tackled by Streep, who has garnered Oscar nominations for playing real-life women such as whistleblower Karen Silkwood, author Susan Orlean and cooking guru Julia Child.Lloyd, a British theater director known for her work in the opera world, elicited energy and brought out youthfulness in Streep in her feature adaptation of ‘Mamma Mia!’, which grossed more than $600 million worldwide in 2008.

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