Killing Streep's character off also allowed the creators to bring her a role of just one minor scene playing a ghost and singing just a couple of songs. Because of the prequel flashbacks, the rest of Donna's presence in the movie was played by Pam & Tommy's Lily James, who portrayed a younger version of the character.
We might not get to see as much of Donna as we'd like in Mamma Mia 2, after Streep said that when all is said and done, she couldn't hack doing a whole movie's worth of training again. But her fleeting appearances, including singing on 'My Love, My Life' and 'Super Trouper', are poignant and shiver-worthy.
Did the actors in Mamma Mia 2 do their own singing?
Well, the short answer is yes. In fact, James got Streep's seal of approval for her incredible voice. "I had no idea Lily James had these singing chops," Streep said in a featurette for the sequel.
Regarding the decision to kill off Donna in the first place, Craymer said it was born from necessity. She explained that Streep "was hesitant about doing another film because she doesn't typically do sequels," so turning the follow-up into a combined prequel and sequel was a natural next step.
They sure are. Meryl Streep has sung on-screen countless times before—including in the Mamma Mia! movies, Ricki and the Flash, and Into the Woods—and her appearance on Only Murders in the Building, and, more specifically, in the in-universe Death Rattle Dazzle, is no exception.
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) - My Love, My Life Scene (9/10) | Movieclips
Which actors actually sang in Mamma Mia?
The movie stars Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård, Dominic Cooper, and Amanda Seyfried. The actors also lent their vocal talents to the soundtrack of the movie musical which had already wowed audiences worldwide.
It's no wonder Streep is so eager to return to the film, given the way she described her experience on set. “It was just a deliriously happy shoot,” she said. “We were all sweaty, hoarse, and exhausted by the end of every day, and it was an absolute dream. I don't ever remember not having the time of my life.”
How much did Meryl Streep make for Mamma Mia 2? Rumor has it the actress's paycheck for Mamma Mia 2 was $3 million. That may seem relatively low until you realize that she had approximately five minutes of screen time in the movie.
In Mamma Mia 2, Cher will play Meryl Streep's mother. Meryl Streep is 68 years old. Cher is 71. And this means that, in the Mamma Mia universe, Cher gave birth to Meryl Streep when she was three.
Thankfully, both co-creator and producer Judy Craymer, and director of Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again Ol Parker have now confirmed that there are plans for Mamma Mia 3 to happen.
Although the film never reveals who Sophie's dad is, fans do have their suspicions. Atom Tickets recently surveyed customers about the mystery, and the results were pretty mixed. While 40 percent believe Sophie's dad is Sam, 16 percent think it's Bill, and 14 percent think it's Harry.
Even Pierce Brosnan, who sings like he's struggling not to choke on a hambone or battling killer indigestion, can't ruin the joyous Mamma Mia! It opens with the movie's strongest singer, the wonderful Amanda Seyfried. (All of the actors, for better or worse, sing their own songs.)
Meryl Streep outnumbers all her male co-stars in years in Mamma Mia! The most surprising thing about Meryl Streep high-kicking her way through musical campfest Mamma Mia isn't the sight of the 59-year-old Oscar winner belting out Abba hits like some Pop Idol hopeful.
Canonically, from flashbacks in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, Donna only slept with Harry and Bill once each, whereas she spent a week with Sam. This makes it more likely statistically for Sam to be Sophie's biological dad.
Did Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan sing in Mamma Mia?
The role of Sam — one of the three possible fathers summoned to Greece by a young gal named Sophie — will allow Brosnan the chance to duet with Streep on the ABBA standard "S.O.S." The actor told Variety, "I said yes right away because it meant working with Meryl Streep.
Her agent, Kevin Huvane, also chimed in, telling the outlet, "We're optimistic about it." That wasn't the first time Streep had expressed interest in doing a third movie, either. “I'll have to schedule a knee scoping before we film, but if there's an idea that excites me, I'm totally there,” she said in 2023.
Instead of following a much younger Donna, Mamma Mia 3 can follow a grown-up Donna through flashbacks, allowing the movie to bring Streep back in a much bigger capacity than a cameo as a ghost.
sequel was reportedly filmed because of “hefty government tax breaks.” But this justification didn't comfort the residents of Skopelos. “It was most disappointing for us that filming didn't take place here,” Mayor Christos Vasiloudis told the Mirror.
Tom Hanks was one of the executive producers on the film (and he's executive producer on Mamma Mia! Here we go again! too). Phillip Michael said he was surprised Tom Hanks knew who he was when he met him: "He was like, 'I know who you are' and he said 'we were watching from LA'."
Adam Sandler's four film projects of 2023 propelled him to an annual salary of $73m (£57m), making him the highest-paid performer in Hollywood, according to Forbes magazine.
Mamma Mia 3 could pick up after the events of the second film, focusing on Sophie's adventures as a new mother. The dynamic between Sophie and her son could be a central theme, offering a fresh perspective on family bonds.
Explaining his decision to cast Cher, 72, as the mother of Meryl Streep, 69, in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, despite a mere three-year age gap between the two actresses, writer-director Ol Packer explained simply that “Cher exists outside of time”. A fascinating hypothesis.
