Rowing Coach Has 'Wild' Role

When Meryl Streep appears to shoot down a river in the opening scene of the new movie "The River Wild," it's not really Streep pulling the oar.

Producers of the film, which opened two weeks ago, used Radcliffe crew coach Elizabeth H. O'Leary as a stunt double for Streep.

"It's a very minor part," O'Leary says. "It's the kind of thing where if you go get popcorn, you'll miss it."

The coach also served as a consultant to the Academy Award winning actress.

"She was a consultant to Meryl Streep," says Holly S. Hatton, the coach of the Radcliffe novice crew. "Liz acted as her double on the water and helped her with rowing and learning better technique."

O'Leary also taught Streep the fundamentals of rowing for the scenes in which the actress herself had to row.

"Meryl Steep is an absolutely remarkable woman," O'Leary says. "She came having learned little about rowing, but it wasn't so much that I had to teach her. Her business is learning to imitate, whether it's an accent or a technique. She sees it and she can do it."

The Radcliffe coach says she was particularly impressed by Streep's commitment to family. One day during shooting, Streep left early because the actress had promised to take her children to the Boston Museum of Science.

"That's what it's all about," O'Leary-says.

Members of O'Leary's team say they are looking forward to seeing their coach's performance.

"A lot of people have either seen it or are planning on seeing it," says crew member Elizabeth A. Williamson '95. "Everyone definitely wants to see it. But with crew, we're really busy, so there really just isn't time for movies."

The beginning of the movie was filmed at Harvard at last summer.

"It was exciting that they chose Weld as the backdrop and it was cool that Liz was going to be in it," says rower Samantha L. Allen '95.

But O'Leary's appearance is so brief, several moviegoers have missed it completely.

"I have some friends who went to see the movie. They got there a few minutes late and totally missed the part [that featured Liz]," Allen says.

The film tells the story of Streep's character and her family taking a rafting trip in the Midwest.

"The movie is really about rafting on an amazing river in Montana," O'Leary says. "The rowing part introduces Meryl Streep's character when she's in Boston."

Local filming took less than a week.

"[The filming] happened in the summer, so no one really knew about it at all," Hatton says. "They filmed for about four days here in Boston, [but no one was around]."

Radcliffe rowers say they are happy to have their program receive acknowledgments for O'Leary's participation in the film.

"There was a credit at the end of the movie saying, 'Special thanks to Radcliffe Crew and Weld Boathouse,'" Allen says. "That was cool."