Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
Actress Meryl Streep has donated $10,000 to a Rhode Island scholarship fund in honor of fellow Oscar nominee Viola Davis. Davis established the fund with her sister in 1988. Upward Bound Director Mariam Boyajian said Thursday that the check for the Upward Bound Scholarship Endowment Fund arrived Monday. Boyajian said Streep’s donation is the largest single award the fund has received. The Segue Institute for Learning in Central Falls also received $10,000 from Streep on Monday in Davis’ honor. Davis grew up in Central Falls. Streep won an Oscar for best actress Sunday for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Davis was nominated for her role in The Help as Aibileen Clark, a black maid in Jackson, Miss., in the 1960s. Boyajian said Davis and her sister, Deloris Grant, graduated from the Upward Bound program.
The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins has given a big thumbs-up to the forthcoming film version of her million-selling dystopian novel. In a message that appeared Thursday on the Facebook page of The Hunger Games, Collins wrote that she was “really happy” with the movie, adding that she feels “like the book and the film are individual yet complementary pieces” that enhance each other. She praised director Gary Ross for remaining faithful to the book while adding a “rich and powerful vision” of the brutal society Collins imagined in print. “And, my God, the actors,” Collins added. She singled out the “extraordinary” Jennifer Lawrence, who stars as the young heroine, Katniss. The movie is to be released March 23.