A new biography of Meryl Streep, Becoming Meryl Streep, has claimed that Dustin Hoffman slapped and taunted her with the name of her recently deceased boyfriend, John Cazale, during the filming of Kramer vs Kramer.

The book claims that Hoffman was using method acting techniques, as he believed Streep could “draw on a still-fresh pain” when portraying Joanna.

The claims were made by Michael Schulman, a contributor to the New York Times, and have been published in Vanity Fair.

Streep and Hoffman both won Academy Awards for their roles in the 1979 film, which chronicled the divorce between Joanna and her husband, Ted, played by Hoffman.

According to Schulman, Hoffman chose Streep for the role of Joanna because he knew about her recent loss of Cazale, who had starred in The Godfather films and The Deer Hunter, and believed she would be able to draw on the pain of his death for her performance.

Schulman alleges that Hoffman improvised his lines during filming, taunting Streep with remarks about Cazale’s cancer and death.

Richard Fischoff, a producer on the film, is quoted as saying that Hoffman was “using stuff that he knew about her personal life and about John to get the response that he thought she should be giving in the performance”.

After the exchange, Streep apparently went “absolutely white” and “left the studio in a rage,” according to Schulman, who claims that the incident transformed the filming of Kramer vs Kramer from a contest between the characters into “Streep vs Hoffman”.

Schulman’s biography also claims that Hoffman whispered Cazale’s name in Streep’s ear before the court room scene later in the film, “planting the seeds of anguish”.

Vanity Fair reports that Cazale was diagnosed with lung cancer a few months after Streep moved into his New York flat.

Another incident described by Schulman allegedly occurred during the filming of the scene in which Joanna tells Ted she is leaving him.

Hoffman apparently “slapped [Streep] hard across the cheek, leaving a red mark”.

Streep then reportedly charged into the hallway and continued to act out the scene.

Neither Hoffman nor Streep have commented publicly on the allegations in the biography.

A representative for Streep said that she had “no comment” on the book, which was unauthorised and to which she had made no contribution and had not read.