Sienna Miller Recalls Finding Out She Was Working With Meryl Streep on ‘Extrapolations’: “That’s a Bucket List”

During her appearance on The Tonight Show Friday night, the Anatomy of a Scandal actress told Jimmy Fallon that she initially got an email from creator Scott Z. Burns about signing on to the eco drama. “It said, ‘I would love you to do this,’” she recalled. “We’d worked together on The Loudest Voice. He’d directed an episode of that. So we were friends.”

But it was the last line in the message that really sold her on the show. She said, “There was a P.S.: ‘Meryl Streep is playing your mother.’ At which point, I was like, ‘I don’t need to read it. I’m in.’”

She added, “That’s a bucket list, isn’t it, for any of us? Like to even be in the room.”

The series follows the effects of climate change on the planet and the impact it would have on humanity, but told through different points of view and interconnected stories. During episode two, “Whale Fall,” set in 2046, marine biologist Rebecca Shearer (Miller), develops a relationship with Eve, the last humpback whale on Earth. And she’s able to communicate with Eve by assigning her the voice of her late mother, which is played by Streep.

Miller previously told The Hollywood Reporter that “it was extraordinary to watch” the Oscar-winning star work on set.

“She can be having a laugh one minute and then suddenly, she gives the greatest emotional performance you’ve ever seen take place and it’s so grounded in truth,” she said of Streep. “Because she’s so open and available, it just inspires something in return.”

But the Chivalry actress explained to Fallon that she still got nervous starring opposite Streep. “Let alone having to look her in the eyes and, like, act ’cause all you want to do is watch what she’s doing,” Miller said. “She’s so brilliant.”

The final episode of Extrapolations premiered Friday on Apple TV+.