NEW YORK:

Oscar winning actress Meryl Streep was rejected for a role in 1976 movie King Kong by filmmaker Dino De Laurentis because he thought she was too ugly to fit into the character.

Streep went for an audition with the veteran Italian producer, but Laurentis was unimpressed with her physical attributes and dismissed her crudely, in Italian not releasing the actress spoke the language fluently.

Imdb.com quoted Streep as saying, “He said to his son, who organised the meeting, ‘She’s ugly. Why did you bring me this thing.’ He didn’t realise I’d just graduated and studied Italian 105. When I replied in Italian, he looked like he had been shot.” Instead of Streep, the role went to Jessica Lange. — HNS