From holocaust survivor, to harridan, to a British prime minister, Meryl Streep has done it all. Well, almost. Her character in "Ricki and the Flash" is an ageing rock n' roller who finally returns home to her ex-husband and troubled child, this time played by her real-life daughter, Mamie Gummer.

Meryl Streep and daughter

Not since 1986 have this mother and daughter shared screentime. Mamie Gummer was just two-years-old when she appeared in "Heartburn" with Streep in 1986, but Mom thought it was high time they teamed up again.

"One of Mamie's buddies, Claire Danes, has been my daughter. Rene Zellweger has been my daughter. There's a lot of really fabulous girls who have been my daughter, but this part (laughs) was fabulous. I thought, 'Why should someone else have this part?' She's a wonderful actress," Streep said.

Gummer says moving their mother-daughter relationship to the screen was "very natural".

Meryl Streep and daughter co-star in new film

"My Mom told me later, recently, that when she read the script she just thought, 'Why shouldn't Mamie play this part? We'll have to work a lot. We won't have to work so hard - a lot of it - 'cause so much, it's just there. I mean, if it's not here (points to her nose), you know, it's in my inflection. She's my mother, not much denying that. So that was nice that there was that shorthand, and it was also she's one of the few people on the planet that knows when I'm lying. So, she kind of kept me honest in the work," Gummer said.

The role of Streep's boyfriend and lead guitarist of her band is played by Australian singer-songwriter Rick Springfield. He was mightily impressed by how quickly Streep got to grips with learning the guitar herself, but then again, given the Protean abilities of this 66-year-old actress, perhaps it's not all that suprising!

"Ricki and the Flash" opens in the U.S. on Friday, August the 7th.

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