In her career spanning over six decades, Barbra Streisand has done it all, releasing award-winning albums, breaking barriers for women as directors, and becoming an EGOT winner. But at , Streisand has revealed it looks like she won’t be in another movie again.
Streisand began her prolific career dominating theatre and music, signing a deal with Columbia Records that gave her lower pay but full control. Her debut album, The Barbra Streisand Album, went on to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. When she set her sights on film, that track proved just as illustrious, seeing Streisand give award-winning performances in the likes of Funny Girl, Yentl, Evergreen, and so much more. So, where does she go from here?
Barbra Streisand reveals her career probably won’t include another movie
Back in early November, Streisand celebrated the release of her memoir, My Name Is Barbra, revisiting the long road of her eventful career from all-new angles. So much success also comes with so much work and Streisand has admitted to feeling the effects of it.
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“[I’m] kind of overwhelmed,” Streisand shared. “Just the demands of having to speak about what I’ve done for over 10 years. I’m sort of sick of myself, to tell you the truth.” Releasing the memoir hasn’t come with a time of celebratory rest.
The last time Streisand was in a movie was back in 2012 with The Guilt Trip, which followed back-to-back appearances in Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers; those two films were separated by six years. According to Streisand, this dry spell is unlikely to change.
What comes next for the EGOT winner
In a phone interview with PEOPLE, Streisand was asked about the likelihood of her making another movie. The chances weren’t high.
“No, not really,” she admitted. “I mean, it was 2009 that I was fighting for the rights to play Gypsy. In other words, it gets exhausting, trying to come up with the structure of the movie and then have it not happen.”
She’s referring to the emotionally draining ordeal she endured when she tried – and failed – to get several movies made, not just Gypsy but also The Normal Heart and a sequel to the award-winning The Way We Were. Her exhaustive but fruitless efforts left a strong impression.
Something had to give in her schedule, too, Streisand explained. “If I could have made my movies, I never would’ve written a book,” she went on. “I had such good movies to make, meaning they were about things I cared about, very interesting subjects that… Why did I only make 19 movies in my lifetime? I had many movies that I wanted to make, and then I get lazy. I go, ‘Oh yeah, to do this one, I have to have all these fittings for period clothes. This one, I’d have to live in Arkansas to do this one.’ I don’t know. It’s complicated, but I am complicated, I guess… I get lazy. Bette Davis made 80 movies. I made 19. She’s a wonderful actress and she liked working. I like time off.”
So far, that free time is all about promoting her memoir, because finishing and releasing it doesn’t make the work over with. In fact, Streisand quickly found, “little did I know, it’s not over with. You’ve got to talk about it, I guess.”
