NEED TO KNOW
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Barbra Streisand, who starred in 2004’s Meet the Fockers and 2010’s Little Fockers, said on Variety‘s Just for Variety podcast that she was paid less than her costars
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Asked if she may return for the fourth Meet the Parents film, Streisand replied, “Oh my God. They’d have to pay me a lot of money because I didn’t get paid what the other people got paid and so I’m pissed off”
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Streisand last appeared on film in 2012’s The Guilt Trip; the fourth Meet the Parents film is scheduled to release in 2026
Barbra Streisand wants a hefty payday for a potential return to the Meet the Parents franchise.
While speaking with Variety‘s Just for Variety podcast to promote her new album The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two Streisand, 83, who appeared in 2004’s Meet the Fockers and 2010’s Little Fockers, claimed she was paid less than her costars.
During her Monday, June 23 appearance, the legendary actress and singer seemed surprised when told that Ariana Grande — who sings with Mariah Carey and Streisand on Streisand’s new album — will star alongside returning cast members Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner and Teri Polo in the fourth Meet the Parents film.
When asked whether there is any potential for Streisand to reprise her role as Roz Focker in the series for the untitled fourth film, the EGOT recipient said, “Oh my God. They’d have to pay me a lot of money because I didn’t get paid what the other people got paid and so I’m pissed off.”
“I was in the time when women were getting paid less than the men,” Streisand added. “The head of Universal was Ron Meyer at the time, and he actually sent me a bonus check. It was very sweet.”
Tracy Bennett/Universal/DreamWorks
Blythe Danner, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Teri Polo and Robert De Niro in Meet the Fockers
Universal did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Streisand costarred with Stiller, De Niro and Polo in 2004’s Meet the Fockers as the eccentric mother of Stiller’s character Greg Focker. The sequel to 2000’s Meet the Parents introduced Streisand’s Roz and Dustin Hoffman as her onscreen husband. Worlds collided in the comedy when Greg and his love interest Pam Byrnes (Polo) introduced the Fockers to her more buttoned-up parents (De Niro and Danner).
Streisand and Hoffman both reprised those roles in 2010’s Little Fockers.
The “Evergreen” singer previously opened up about the alleged pay disparity in her 2023 memoir My Name Is Barbra. “I didn’t ask what the other actors were making, but I was definitely hurt when I found out that Dustin was getting three times as much as me, plus a tiny percentage, which is significant on a movie that made $520 million,” she wrote.
“I was given some excuse about how I had been the last to sign, but the only thing that made me feel better was when my dear friend Ron Meyer, who was the head of Universal, gave me a bonus . . . the first and only time I ever got one. I guess he, too, thought it was unfair,” she continued.
PEOPLE confirmed in May that Grande, 31, will join Meet the Parents 4‘s cast in her first movie role since last year’s musical blockbuster Wicked. While Stiller and co. have not yet revealed any details about the movie, Stiller told the Today show during a June 9 interview that audiences can expect Grande’s character “to be really, really funny and kind of the whole engine of the new movie.”
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Alamy
Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, Barbra Streisand, Teri Polo and Blythe Danner in Meet the Fockers
Streisand herself has acted only sparingly in recent years; she last appeared on screen in a 2016 episode of Modern Family and last acted on film in 2012’s The Guilt Trip.
Asked about offers that come her way, Streisand told Variety, “I get a lot of offers, but they’re funny offers. Well, one was good. It was something that Peter Bogdanovich was going to do and Guillermo del Toro sent it to me, I think. It’s a subject that I actually love, but I’m not going to tell you. I’m not ready to direct again. I think I’ve probably had it.”
The fourth Meet the Parents film does not yet have a release date. Streisand’s new album is out June 27.
Read the original article on People
