After another commercial break, Piers Morgan asked Barbra Streisand what she thinks when she sees older film clips of herself. “I'm so objective when I look at myself,” Barbra replied. “You know, when I'm directing a movie, and I'm editing, you know, it's always she, her, it's not me, it's like the character in the movie.”
MORGAN: Have you resisted the sort of self-masticated plunge into plastic surgery that so many American female stars feel compelled to do?
STREISAND: I don't trust most people. You know when I was younger I thought well, God, if only I could just take off just like little bit and then just shorten it just a little bit, but what if he screws up? You know, so. I just—and I really don't like the idea of changing one's face, you know, like capping the teeth or stuff like that. To change a face, no.”
Streisand then told Morgan that Marlon Brando was the greatest actor she's ever seen.
As the discussion continued, Streisand shared the story of the time Brando invited her on an overnight road trip:
“He wanted to take me to the desert, to see the wild flowers,” she explained. “And sleep over in a ghost town. I was such a nice Jewish girl that I just said, 'Marlon, I can't stay overnight with you. I'll go with you for the day but you have to take me home.'”
Morgan played a clip of Streisand singing “The Way We Were” on her 1975 television special
From Funny Girl To Funny Lady
and asked Streisand for a comment on her performance. “I'm looking at the — why was I wearing that kind of thing over the black dress? And God, my hair was light, and I was a little chubby.”
On her public reputation as a “diva,” Streisand said: “There are probably several people called Barbra Streisand, meaning you see me as this star. I don't see myself like that. I'm this girl, I'm this woman, I'm this mother, I'm this wife. You know, I do not dress up, I don't at home ...”
MORGAN: Have you ever screamed at people?
STREISAND: Oh, yes, I screamed at people. But—
MORGAN: How lovely.
STREISAND: But that does not mean — you know, I scream at my husband. It doesn't make me a diva.
MORGAN: Are you a perfectionist?
STREISAND: I am proud to say I am. But there is no such thing as perfection, and I found that out when I was 15 years old. I wrote it in my journal, that perfection is imperfection. So it has that humanity, like human quality. Otherwise it's too cold, right? You can just strive for perfection. Another word is excellence, strive for excellence.
MORGAN: What are some things that you do that we maybe wouldn't know?
STREISAND: I draw, I actually draw. I take photographs. I wrote a book on design. That's interesting to me, because that's a lot to do with directing too, it's composition and color, and you know, monochromatic frames. That interests me.
Morgan asked Streisand about all her awards over the years. “I used to hide all these awards,” she said, “and then one day I was doing a new house. And I decided, I'll put them in a room. You can't see them when you walk in. But they are there, and I do appreciate them now. I do say, oh good, I was here, I'm still here, but I was here.
“You know, I think it's because my father— and maybe you'll relate to this— died so young. That I want to be remembered. I want to have made a mark here. And records and films, television shows, they do that. They say you existed, you were here. And hopefully for, you know, a good purpose.”
