10 Movie Directors That Lied To Get What They Wanted
4. Sydney Pollack Set A Lion On Meryl Streep - Out Of Africa
If you ask Meryl Streep, director Sydney Pollack lied and then some to get what he wanted for 1985 romance drama Out of Africa.
The film stars Meryl Streep as a wealthy Dame who tries her hand at living in the country’s wilderness. Pollack won both the best film and best director Oscars but the director and leading lady both remember the last day of shooting differently.
With her stuntwoman unwilling, Streep stepped up to the plate to capture an important and potentially dangerous moment where Dame Karen and her party are attacked by roaming lions.
However, these wildcats weren’t feeling particularly up to being ferocious that day and they were hard to move whilst leashed. Losing time, Meryl Streep alleges that Sydney Pollack decided to do something drastic. In an interview in 1995, the actress said:
"So Sydney took the tether off on the last take and didn't tell me. So he said "okay, roll them. Action" and I whipped this thing and this thing went [imitates Lion roar] and he went "got 'er, okay, it's a wrap."
Meryl Streep admits to running for the bushes in fear for her life.
Then again, whilst Pollack admitted that Streep did the stunt in place of her stuntwoman, he called Streep’s recalling of the moment a “creative memory”. Admittedly, this seems entirely possible since most bosses wouldn't sic a live, untethered lion on their employee.