Tonight, the one and only Barbra Streisand. And the way we were extraordinary hour. The legendary superstar. Those men are fighting for your right to make any kind of picture you want. Her incredible career. I only began to sing because i couldnt get a job as an actress, b you see. Her leading men. The greatest love of her life. You always ask that to people. Why is that . And the tragedy that changed everything. I think it did scar me. And the politics, Plastic Surgery and the personal side of fame. You see me as this star. I dont see myself like that. Barbra streisand, the way she is, a funny girl. This is piers morgan tonight. People ask me who i would most like to have on my show as a guest one name pops up in my mind. Shes a fabulous actress with a voice i believe is the greatest thats ever been. Shes a humanitarian, activist, wife, mother and a funny girl. She is, of course, Barbra Streisand. I even got the name right. Did you say bahbra . I said barbra. I got the last name right. I said it in a very eng rich way. [ english accent ] by god, youve got it. I have come from watching your brilliant new movie guilt trip. It reminded me what it would be like if i went on a trip with my mother. You and seth rogen go on a bizarre trip. You are the arche type of a jewish mother. A loving, touching film. Lets watch a clip. Im over here honey. Hey, ma. Im over here. I see you. All of new york sees you. Oh, my god. Good to see you. Look at you. Look at me. Oh, my god. Youre wearing a sports jacket. How did you know where to even buy a sports jacket. I took a class. Oh, my god. You left the price tag on. J. Crew, my fancy schmancy son. Im going to keep it in case it goes on sale. It was a touching movie. It moved me to tears. Its also funny. You had a ball doing it, didnt you . If you like yeah, yeah. If you like working that much. Yeah, it was fun. It actually was fun. Do you hate all work . No. What do you like doing . I love making movies actually. I love recording. Thats what i love. You dont like performing in front of people. Thats odd. It is strange. I never know what to do during the applause. I dont know what to do. Oh, okay. All right. Lets go on to the next thing. Its a strange thing to be live in front of people. You consider yourself to be an actress that sings. Mmhmm. Many people would think youre arguably the greatest singer thats ever been. I would argue that. I dont know. I only began to sing because i couldnt get a job as an actress, you see. I entered a talent contest. The dream was to be a star . I think when i was young i wanted to be a star until i became a star. Then its a lot of work, you know. Its work to be a star. I dont enjoy the stardom part. I enjoy the creative process. If i said to you, look, youre on a desert island. You can sing, you can direct, you can act, or you can sit there drinking out of coconuts. I would say direct. Thats the true love. Well, directing is so interesting. It just encompasses everything that you see, that you know, that you felt, that you have observed. It just you know, you can turn the camera on anything. Oh, my god. Turn the camera. Youre in control of your work. Youre in control of your socalled art. I like that. When i watched guilt trip and well come to yours. Im sure there are millions of them, as i have. But it took me back to your early upbringing in many ways. Its about mother hood. Its about the relationship between a mother and her son. Mmhmm. You had a very difficult upbringing. Your father died when you were 1. 15 months old. I was 1 when my father died. Really . I saw that parallel. Ah. I was fortunate in that my mother remarried someone who was a fantastic father to me. Wow. You werent so fortunate. You had a difficult relationship with your stepfather. I was interested in that. Ahha. How much did it scar you or did it drive you . I think it did scar me more than it drove me. What drove me was the fact that my fathers life was cut so short. He died at 35 years old. He was listed in a book of great leaders of education. He wrote incredible thesises, if there is such a word, with just wonderful observations. He was a teacher. He also taught at elmira reformatory. He taught english to juvenile delinquents. I could never read that piece until i got much older and had this certain experience. Then i was able to read it. That was me. In other words, there is so much in the cellular memory or the dna. Because i never knew him. But at 16, i discovered ipsen and shakespeare. When i finally read my fathers thesis it was how to teach prisoners and delinquents through ipsen and shakespeare. You know . Have you been able to find out a lot about him and his character and his life . Not really. Although very mystical things happen, you know . I was doing a concert i cant remember when. Several years ago. I was with my two girlfriends one night at my house. And they were talking about their fathers. I couldnt relate to them because they had the experience of having a father. I came up to my office after they left and there was a letter from my father that had been sent to me through a cousin who has the same streisand name in brooklyn, some synagogue. She said, can you give this to barbra. This was my fathers girlfriend when he was 19 years old and she found me through my cousin. It was a poem written to her. But such a beautiful poem. It talked about love. The only thing really in this world is love was the moral of the poem. With an enigmatic structure in it that you had to find the key to find his such an interesting mind. Extraordinary. He was 19 when he wrote this . Yeah. What did that make you feel . That he was telling me something. That it was to me. What was he telling you . It was a message that, you know, no matter what, love is the answer. Thats why i called my album love is the answer. Its also a line from a song. Your character in the movie the guilt trip has been in love or to the viewer has been in love properly twice in her life. To the man she married and to this other guy she fell in love with. How many times have you been properly in love. How many times i should have prepared for this. I see you ask people this. You didnt ask mike tyson. There was a reason for that. Is that right . Trying to think. Um at least five or six. Really . Thats fascinating. Does the wider world know all of them . You didnt ask how long it lasted. Just love feeling or whatever. How long does it need to last to qualify for proper love, do you think . Oh, maybe seven. Not that long. Eight months, would you say . Maybe years. Some people have it literally in a flash. I do believe there can be love at first sight. I have known people. They have been very happy the rest of their lives together. They get lucky. Yeah. Isnt it interesting . Its a recognition of something. I knew i liked you from the minute. I didnt know your father died that early. You see, you might have known that about me, but theres something that you recognize in someones past. Its a void that you recognize. I think you become im sure youre the same. You are curious because you never knew this person but it was such a pivotal part of your life, clearly. Its why youre here. Yeah. Did you feel your mother properly loved you or was there a sense of jealously that you were leading the kind of life perhaps she dreamt of herself . She was a wonderful singer. My mother had a great voice. Not like mine. Not like my sisters. Not like my sons. A high soprano voice but like a bird. Really beautiful. I used to say, mom, why didnt you try to get a career as a singer. No, she said she was too shy. She couldnt do it. Im basically shy, too. But that makes the difference. How do you succeed if you dont try . How did you feel when your mother died . Did you feel you had reconciled things with her . Basically, yeah. A short time before she died i remember going to her house. She had alzheimers. She didnt recognize me really. But i started to sing her a melody of something she had sung when she was younger. That, she remembered. It shows you the power of music, doesnt it . What was it you sang . Do you remember . It was something that she made a record of when i was 13 and she took me. But it was really because she made the records and then i was able to make a record when i was 13. Do you think she was proud of you . Do you know what it was . I used to say, ma, how come you never told me i love you . You never said those words or hugged me. She said, i didnt want you to get a swelled head. She said, i knew that my parents loved me, but they didnt have to tell me all the time. Its a certain coldness, you know . Its not tactile. Its not physical. I dont know what it is. Its strange to me, always. Strange to me. How are you with your son . Oh, i just i think everything he does is great. You know . My son, thats unconditional love. I swear. Its a terrible thing to say. My son could do something really bad and i know i would find a way to justify it. You sang with your son jason in september. Just take a look at this. Its very moving. What . What do you have . Wow. How many rose z and youve got roses. Ive got roses. Are sprinkled with dew doesnt he have a gorgeous voice . Amazing. Look at that. He had never been on stage before. But hes done so much incredible work on himself that he actually could have the courage. He said, im never going to perform. He said, i like recording but i will never record live. Jason, i said, we have to sing it together. I have to sing that with you. It was beautiful to watch. Wow. We found it on the internet. How do you like that . I have never seen it before. Have you not ever seen it before . May izing. We have it for the Television Show that will come out on mothers day hopefully. I want to know if you have been on a road trip with him. Whether it was a parallel with the movie. I want to talk about politics, the way we were my favorite movie, and what rocks your political boat because i know for a fact a lot does. My conversation with Barbra Streisand took place before the shooting in newtown. She said the horrible tragedy in newtown, connecticut has brought to the forefront a long overdue National Conversation regarding the lack of gun control and Mental Health services in our country. I hope the story of sandy hook elementary finallile cat lieds it is nation and our leaders in washington to commit to doing something substantive regarding gun control and access to Mental Health care service it is to those who desperately need it. Well be right back. Im doing my own sleep study. Advil pm® or tylenol pm. The advil pm® guy is spending less time lying awake with annoying aches and pains and more time asleep. Advil pm®. The difference is a better nights sleep. The russians dont want anybody in spain but the spanish. Is that scary . Theyre come oh niss, yes, but they want total disarmament . No. Is that scary . Hitler and mussolini are using the spanish earth for testing ground for what they want another world war. Is that scary . Youre darn right it is. Barbra streisand in the way we were. Thats my synchle favorite movie. I told Robert Redford when he came in. He said he was resisting your call for a sequel ever since. Its such a good story, the sequel. Im still after him. Hes never made a sequel to anything. He doesnt believe in sequels. I understand that. This happens to be a great story. I wanted it to be released on the anniversary. What would have happened . It was just a very interesting story through their daughter and her political activism at berkeley in 1968 and the Democratic National convention which is very interesting. It was a beautiful love story again. We spent most of the last month emailing each other about barack obama and mitt romney. You were tearing me off a new one, i believe is the american phrase, for what you perceived to be my lack of support for the president. Thats right. I was more interested in the debate. It was a good one. I found it informative. I sent you articles. You did. Your man won. Your man didnt . I dont have a voice in the race. Im british. My argument was i wondered whether mitt romney could be better for the american economy. God, no. Given his background. You were having none of it. Do you know why . There have been businessmen who turned president s. Hoover, the first george bush. Businessmen. There were a couple of others. Lousy president s. Businessmen make lousy president s. Why have you been so consistently supportive of obama . I cant even imagine thinking about what would happen to the Supreme Court if a republican were the president. You know . I mean, Citizens United is a horrible thing people can spend and waste this amount of money on elections . Think of the people that could benefit from that money. There have been two elections since i have been in america. Two elections where one party has had far more financial firepower. One was with meg whitman and one was with romney. The most money lost. What does that tell you . The people are getting smarter. Theyre going, i dont like this amount of money spent on this election. There should be a given Campaign Finance reform is very important. I hope somebody does something about it. You should have a given amount, equal amount, equal air time. Thats it. You know . That idea of corporations being people, no, no. This is a country of, by and for the people. Not of, by and for the corporation. You know . Its like because im so against gmos, the modified food and im so against lobbying, you know, like Chemical Companies lobbying and proposition 37 was bad. Thats scary. The poison in our foods and in the air and pollution. They give discretionary polluters we are having climate change. The republicans dont seem to want to acknowledge that. It is a major problem and you have to be a democrat to understand that or to believe in that. Have you ever been in love with a republican . Never. Could you ever be . No. Really . Thats fascinating. Well, unless there was an enormous sexual chemistry and i had to we never talked about politics. Maybe. But i cant quite imagine it, no. What would have been the proudest moments for you with obama . I imagine one was when he came out for gay rights finally . Mmhmm. Absolutely. Thats great. What else . What else as has he done . That youre particularly proud of. His stance for women. Women. The power of women or not allowing just for that one reason. In my show i would say im not going to tell you who to vote for, but if you want clean air, good food and so forth. If you believe that a woman has a right to choose what happens in her own body in other words, or you think your body belongs to the state, there is a clear choice. Thank god that achen and murdock came out with extraordinary statements. Unbelievable. Isnt that great . Keep talking, boys. What was amazing is when you watched the footage of the moments neither had a clue they had anything remotely contentious. Scary. I found it unsettling. You can reach the point of potentially becoming a senator and have no clue what you are saying is deeply offensive to people. Some men, mostly women, right . It was deeply offensive. Do you feel there is any form of real equality yet in america for women . We are one of the last countries to think of a woman being president. I think its possible now. But it wasnt years ago. Do you think hillary is likely to run . I dont know. But i hope after a fouryear rest that she would run because she would be a great woman president. Lets take another break. Lets come back and talk hollywood. Who the greatest movie star in the world is ever. Okay. Other than yourself. No, no. Papa can you hear me papa can you see me papa can you find me in the night papa are you near me papa can you hear me papa can you help me youre wearing the same outfit. You just realized. Thats very funny. What do you think when you see yourself from that era . That was from yentyl in 1983. What do i think . Yeah, when you look at yourself. Im so objective when i look at myself. When im directing a movie, editing its she, her. Its not me. Its like the character in the movie. Do you see a beautiful woman there . Not particularly. Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought you looked beautiful . From certain angles. Really . Which is your best angle . Well. My left. Why . Mm, because my eyes dont look as crosseyed sometimes. Thats really what you feel . Yeah. Im like two different people. Two sides, i think. Lets look at a clip from one of my favorites. This is your film debut funny girl. Lifes candy and the suns a bowl of butter dont bring around a cloud to rain uh on my parade dont tell me not to fly ive simply got to in someone takes a spill, its me and not you who told you youre allowed to rain on my parade its odd. Fabulous film. You know, i dont like to live in the past. I like to live in the present. So its odd for me to see. Youre 19 years old. You do . Yeah. Whoa, whoa. 19 . Youre bewitched and deeply looked after see, i didnt know. You see, i find that utterly spellbinding. Youre kidding. What was funny was you watching it thinking, im crosseyed. I think there is a beautiful woman singing like an angel. Two different perspectives. We dont appreciate ourselves, most people. Interesting. How have you resisted the selfmasticated plunge into Plastic Surgery so Many American female stars feel compelled to do . I dont trust most people. When i was younger i thought, god, if only i could just take off that little bit and just shorten it a little bit. What if he screws up, you know . I really dont like the idea of changing ones face. You know, like capping the teeth or stuff like that. To change the face, no. Who is the greatest actor you have ever seen . I know you love acting. Its your great passion. Marlon brando. Really . No question. Why . Do you doubt that . No, i dont actually. I remember interviewing Dennis Hopper and he said james dean for him had the brando thing as well. But brando was first. Yeah. He was fascinating. He would call me up sometimes. Marlon brando would . He called me up once and said, sing me a song. I said, marlon. Thats like me asking you to recite hamlet. To which he proceeded to recite a scene from hamlet. Did you have to sing . I did. What did you sing him . I sang a song called nobodys heart belongs to me. Just on the phone to brando. I remember sitting in my kitchen. I will never forget it. One of those moments i will never forget. This is before they had gizmos to record things. Im going [ mouthing words ] hamlet what did he say at the end of it . I dont remember that. Was it a regular thing . Did he ring you up on a friday night and say where is my song . We went on a short road trip together. You and Marlon Brando . Mmhmm. This is fantastic. Where did you go . He wanted to take me to the desert to see the wild flowers and sleep over. Now were getting somewhere. I