Barbra Streisand & Larry Kramer 'Debate' THE NORMAL HEART Film to EW

Film legend Barbra Streisand and gay activist Larry Kramer recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly about their failed attempt to big THE NORMAL HEART, Kramer's 1985 play about the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, to the big screen. According to Streisand, the failure is the fault of Kramer, while Kramer insists that the fault lies with Streisand. In the interview with EW, Streisand called Kramer "brilliant, courageous, stubborn, and self-destructive." While Kramer said that "She never put her money where her mouth is."

Streisand first purchased the film rights to THE NORMAL HEART after seeing the original Off Broadway production in 1985. (A Tony-nominated revival is currently running on Broadway.) For the next ten years, she worked with Kramer and another screenwriter to adapt the story. Streisand planned to direct the film while playing the supporting role of Dr. Emma Brookner.

However, a movie never happened. According to Streisand, Kramer was unwilling to make necessary adjustments which would help make the script more cinematic. "I was using the best of [the play]. But there are certain things you do for film," she told EW. "Larry only wanted to use his screenplay. I couldn't have my hands tied artistically."

But according to Kramer, Streisand rewrote the script to make her character the star, at the expense of the gay characters who are supposed to be the focus of the play. "She cut Ned's part so much that when she offered the movie to a major star who had played the part on stage, he said, ‘I can't play this. The character has no motivation anymore,'" said Kramer. "She subsumed all of the motivations into her part, as the doctor."

Streisand also says that Kramer rejected a deal from HBO to turn the play into a TV project after it was clear a movie wasn't going to happen. "Larry wouldn't accept their highest offer of $250,000. He wanted a million dollars," says Streisand. "Larry held out for the money. I didn't. Why not advance your cause? Why keep this movie unseen for all these years?" Kramer says he never heard about the offer and that Streisand continually neglected the project to work on other films.

In the mid -nineties, the rights to the play were given back to Kramer, though Streisand says she continued to support the project. Then, last year, Kramer posted a letter on the AIDS-awareness organization ACT UP's website in which he called Streisand a hypocrite for her failure to complete THE NORMAL HEART film.

"When he printed that diatribe on the web, I was very hurt by it, because it's not true. I started to write [a response] but then decided not to do it," says Streisand. "It was wonderful to read some of the comments from the gay community about this. They fought the battle for me. It was really lovely for all these people to come to my defense."

According to the article, Streisand was most upset by Kramer's accusation that she had sabotaged the fight for gay rights. "At a time when we are all pulling together to achieve such giant steps for gay equality, it is anguishing to me to have my devotion to this cause so distorted. I think my efforts for the gay community and my immersion in securing its constitutional entitlement and other equitable rights is quite evident and a matter of record."

Kramer did say of Streisand that, "She's a mighty force, and I certainly agree she has done a good deal for the gay world," says Kramer. "She just wasn't going to make this movie right."

But Streisand may still appear in a movie version of THE NORMAL HEART. Streisand says she would consider playing Brookner in Ryan Murphy's planned adaptation starring Mark Ruffalo.

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