Meryl Streep enjoyed filming ‘intimate scene’ with co-star so much she didn’t want it to end

Meryl Streep has opened up about an 'intimate' scene which she enjoyed filming so much that she didn't want it to end.

She's one of the most widely-loved actors out there, and was reflecting on one of her many much-loved films at the Cannes Film Festival when she recalled the scene.

Streep was awarded an honorary Palme d’Or at the iconic festival where she is said to have received a whopping two-minute standing ovation.

Of course, with a career as illustrious as Streep's there are any number of scenes that she could recall, but this one was something quite different.

The actor was recently honored at Cannes. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

And while it might have ended up with the star wishing that it wouldn't end, things didn't get off to the best start with it. Watch the trailer below:

Any number of factors were in play at first which all spoiled the mood somewhat at first.

Fortunately though, the mood soon shifted and Streep recalled that she had felt entirely at ease in the very intimate scene.

So which film is it that the iconic celebrity was recalling in such a fond way?

It was the 1985 movie Out of Africa in which she starred opposite Robert Redford. Take a look:

Streep plays a Danish baroness who falls in love with a big game hunter in Africa in the critically acclaimed movie.

One scene which forms a romantic centrepiece to the movie sees the two lovers sat by a river.

There, Redford's character is washing her hair in the river while reciting Samual Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

The movie came out in 1985. (Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

I mean, as scenes go it doesn't get much more romantic than that really.

Recalling the intimacy of the scene, Streep said: “It’s a sex scene in a way, because it’s so intimate."

She added: “We’ve seen so many scenes of people f*cking, but we don’t see that loving touch, that care.”

But things got off to a rocky start, not least because there were dangerous animals nearby.

The actor spoke fondly of the scene. (Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)(Photo by

The Hollywood icon said: “We had lions, but they were imported from California and they were supposedly fine — tame. They were not."

But the definitely-not-tame tame lions were the least of their worries, since Africa's most dangerous animals was strolling around nearby.

Streep explained: "The second thing we were told is the animal that kills the most people in Africa is the hippopotamus, if you get between the hippopotamus and the water.

“So we were shooting in the river and the hippopotamus were right above it. I don’t know if they show that in the movie, I can’t remember, but I was aware of it!”

Understandably the hair washing was a little nervous at first, with Streep admitting 'it wasn't good', before her hair stylist stepped in with some tips.

Streep said: “Redford took the lesson, and he just really got into it, and he was great.

“By take five I was so in love! I didn’t want it to end that day, even in spite of the hippos."