Director Of ‘King Kong’ Told Meryl Streep She Was Too Ugly For A Role

Meryl Streep has become one of the most iconic actresses of all time, and there is no mistaking her talent, beauty, grace, and charm. Well, there was once someone who didn’t believe she was worthy of all roles, and that was King Kong director Dino De Laurentiis, who said she was too ugly for the female lead in his film.

Yes, as Fox News reported, Streep went on The Graham Norton Show to speak about Into the Woods and other things she has been doing.

While on the talk show, the 18-time Academy Award nominee recalled the time she auditioned to be in the 1976 film King Kong directed by Dino De Laurentiis. It appears his son had seen Streep in a play, and thought she could audition for the lead role of Dwan.

Upon going in to audition, De Laurentiis spoke in Italian to his son about bringing the actress in to try for the part. Streep is fluent in Italian and heard what the director said.

“Why do you bring me this ugly thing?”

It seems as if Meryl Streep’s wit was already in place almost 40 years ago as she looked De Laurentiis in the face and responded back in perfect Italian.

“I’m sorry I’m not beautiful enough to be in ‘King Kong.'”

Entertainment Tonight reports that Meryl Streep is able to laugh about things now because she has moved on from King Kong and that less than flattering audition. Norton took this as a chance to advise that “young actors should take notice,” because even a legendary actress had a bad audition and didn’t get a part.

Now 65, Streep hadn’t really been in anything at all by that point in her young career. Since then, she has gone on to countless awards, nominations, and films that will be remembered forever.

The Top 10 Meryl Streep Films http://t.co/HQPsTYA21H #MerylStreep #Film pic.twitter.com/syfJjRokoo

— The Script Lab (@TheScriptLab) January 11, 2015

Her career is still going strong and she’s even nominated for a Golden Globe for Into the Woods so it isn’t like that bad audition made her career go down the tubes. It just shows that even the best can have a bad day.

Meryl Streep is currently starring in Into the Woods, and has three films set to open in 2015 — Ricki and the Flash, Suffragette, and Florence Foster Jenkins. She may not have gotten the female lead in King Kong, but it certainly appeared to work out for her in the long run.

[Image via Getty]