Line #9 Creator/MerylStreep


1	[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meryl-streep1.jpg]]
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3	->''"In the nearly four years of this series, no name has been mentioned more often, or with more respect, than that of tonight's guest.... She is one of those rare actors who defines her generation, her time, and her craft."''
4	-->-- '''James Lipton''', ''Series/InsideTheActorsStudio'' 1998
5
6	Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Widely acknowledged by critics and fans alike as the best actress working today or of her time, she is a three-time UsefulNotes/AcademyAward winner from a record 21 nominations, as well as a record eight-time UsefulNotes/GoldenGlobe winner from a record 32 nominations.
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8	Streep has tackled virtually every genre in Hollywood, including romantic comedies (''Film/DefendingYourLife''), serious dramas (''Film/SophiesChoice'', ''Theatre/{{Doubt}}''), action-adventure (''The River Wild''), comedies (''Film/SheDevil'', ''Film/DeathBecomesHer''), classic romances (''Film/OutOfAfrica''), and even two musicals (''Film/MammaMia'' and ''Film/IntoTheWoods''); about the only genre she hasn't been in (yet) is a {{superhero}} film. She has also appeared in, among others, ''Film/TheDevilWearsPrada'', ''Silkwood'', ''Theatre/AngelsInAmerica'' (as an [[SerialEscalation elderly male rabbi]], among others), and ''Film/JulieAndJulia''.
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10	Streep has been described as "the successor to Creator/BetteDavis," and in fact, Davis herself endorsed Meryl's early work. Her versatility and ability to act with her eyes and face are now unique in Hollywood, but the talent evident in every film is reminiscent of Davis at her best. Onscreen, she plays characters with tremendous depth, but oddly Meryl has no "trademark" -- she transforms herself completely for each role she plays in a way no female Hollywood actor has done before or since. (Her facility with accents is one of the most praised weapons in her arsenal.) Although critics have described her as "robotic" and "acting from the neck up," movies like ''Film/MammaMia'' provide evidence to the contrary.
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12	She is currently the standard to which all other actresses and most actors as well are compared, and the phrase "[[PretenderDiss You're no Meryl Streep]]" has been used on multiple occasions at all levels of the acting industry. In essence, she has defined the standards for not only her generation but every generation to come.
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14	!! Selected Filmography:
15	* ''Film/{{Julia}}'' (1977) -- Anne Marie (film debut)
16	* ''Film/TheDeerHunter'' (1978) -- Linda
17	* ''Film/{{Manhattan}}'' (1979) -- Jill Davis
18	* ''Film/KramerVsKramer'' (1979) -- Joanna Kramer (Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress)
19	* ''Literature/TheFrenchLieutenantsWoman'' (1981) -- Sarah/Anna
20	* ''Film/SophiesChoice'' (1982) -- Sophie Zawistowski (Academy Award for Best Actress)
21	* ''Film/{{Silkwood}}'' (1983) -- Karen Silkwood
22	* ''Film/OutOfAfrica'' (1985) -- Karen Dinesen
23	* ''Film/EvilAngels'' (1988) -- Lindy Chamberlain
24	* ''Film/SheDevil'' (1989) -- Mary Fisher
25	* ''Film/PostcardsFromTheEdge'' (1990) -- Suzanne Vale
26	* ''Film/DefendingYourLife'' (1991) -- Julia
27	* ''Film/DeathBecomesHer'' (1992) -- Madeline Ashton
28	* ''Literature/TheHouseOfTheSpirits'' (1993) -- Clara del Valle Trueba
29	* ''Film/TheRiverWild'' (1994) -- Gail Hartman
30	* ''Film/TheBridgesOfMadisonCounty'' (1995) -- Francesca Johnson
31	* ''Film/OneTrueThing'' (1998) -- Kate Gulden
32	* ''Film/MusicOfTheHeart'' (1999) -- Roberta Guaspari
33	* ''Film/AIArtificialIntelligence'' (2001) -- Blue Mecha (voice)
34	* ''Film/{{Adaptation}}'' (2002) -- Susan Orlean
35	* ''Film/TheHours'' (2003) -- Clarissa Vaughan
36	* ''Film/StuckOnYou'' (2003) -- Herself
37	* ''Literature/TheManchurianCandidate'' (2004) -- Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw
38	* ''Film/{{A Series of Unfortunate Events\|2004}}'' (2004) -- Aunt Josephine
39	* ''Film/{{Prime\|2005}}'' (2005) -- Lisa Metzger Bloomberg
40	* ''Film/APrairieHomeCompanion'' (2006) -- Yolanda Johnson
41	* ''Film/TheDevilWearsPrada'' (2006) -- Miranda Priestly
42	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAntBully'' (2006) -- Queen Ant (voice)
43	* ''Film/LionsForLambs'' (2007) -- Janine Roth
44	* ''Film/MammaMia'' (2008) -- Donna Sheridan
45	** ''Film/MammaMiaHereWeGoAgain'' (2018)
46	* ''Theatre/{{Doubt}}'' (2008) -- Sister Aloysius Beauvier
47	* ''Film/JulieAndJulia'' (2009) -- Creator/JuliaChild
48	* ''WesternAnimation/FantasticMrFox'' (2009) -- Mrs. Fox (voice)
49	* ''Film/ItsComplicated'' (2009) -- Jane Adler
50	* ''Film/TheIronLady'' (2011) -- UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher (Academy Award for Best Actress)
51	* ''Film/HopeSprings'' (2012)
52	* ''Theatre/AugustOsageCounty'' (2013) -- Violet Weston
53	* ''Film/TheGiver'' (2014) -- Chief Elder
54	* ''Film/IntoTheWoods'' (2014) -- The Witch
55	* ''Film/RickiAndTheFlash'' (2015) -- Ricki Rendazzo
56	* ''Film/{{Suffragette}}'' (2015) -- Emmeline Pankhurst
57	* ''Film/FlorenceFosterJenkins'' (2016) -- Florence Foster Jenkins
58	* ''Film/ThePost'' (2017) -- Kay Graham
59	* ''Film/MaryPoppinsReturns'' (2018) -- Topsy
60	* ''Film/TheLaundromat'' (2019)
61	* ''Film/{{Little Women\|2019}}'' (2019) -- Aunt March
62	* ''Series/BigLittleLies'' (2019) -- Mary Louise Wright
63	* ''Film/DontLookUp'' (2021) -- President Janie Orlean
64	* ''Series/{{Extrapolations}}'' (2023)
65	* ''Series/OnlyMurdersInTheBuilding'' (2023) - Loretta Durkin
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67
68	!! Tropes associated with her work:
69
70	* AbilityOverAppearance: [[invoked]]She nearly got turned down for some roles because the directors felt she wasn't beautiful enough - but her performances were enough to win them over. ''Film/SophiesChoice'' (written for Creator/UrsulaAndress), ''Film/TheBridgesOfMadisonCounty'' (written for Isabella Rosselini) and ''The French Lieutenant's Woman'' (written for Creator/HelenMirren) - in which Meryl herself felt she wasn't pretty enough.
71	* ActorInspiredElement:[[invoked]]
72	** Her character in ''Film/DeathBecomesHer'' was scripted to have an affair with a younger man, but Meryl suggested a rewrite.
73	** Several in ''Film/TheDevilWearsPrada'': she came up with the idea of using a soft voice for Miranda Priestly as she had noticed Creator/ClintEastwood did that and as a way of showing that Miranda never needed to raise her voice in any room she was in. Her line towards the end of the movie was supposed to be "everybody wants to be me", but she suggested "us" instead.
74	** Amy's speech about marriage as an economic proposition in ''Film/LittleWomen2019'' was Meryl's idea, who felt that the audience needed to understand a woman's powerlessness in the era.
75	* ActorInspiredHeroism:[[invoked]] She felt that Joanna of ''Film/KramerVsKramer'' was written to be "too evil" and especially asked to rewrite her monologue in the courtroom scene, as she felt it sounded like a man speaking for a woman. As a result, although Joanna is the film's antagonist, she becomes far more sympathetic.
76	* AscendedExtra: In ''Literature/TheGiver'' the Chief Elder is a pretty small role. But Meryl's counterpart in the film is much more prominent.
77	* AwesomeDearBoy:[[invoked]]
78	** She has refused to play witches in films for years, but did ''Film/IntoTheWoods'' because it was a Stephen Sondheim musical. She also joked that since the Witch became young and beautiful again, it was a little better.
79	** She signed on to ''Rendition'' immediately because she was rarely offered scripts for political thrillers.
80	** She did ''Film/SheDevil'' because she wanted to do a comedy role.
81	** ''Film/DeathBecomesHer'' was in her words "too original to pass up".
82	* BeautyInversion:[[invoked]] For ''Film/IntoTheWoods'' she's done up to look like a hag in the Witch's 'before' self. Meryl joked that it took more make-up to have her look beautiful when the Witch regains her youth.
83	* BestKnownForTheFanservice:[[invoked]] Seth [=McFarlane=] pointed out in his "We Saw Your Boobs" number at the Oscars that ''Silkwood'' is where Meryl herself went topless.
84	* BilingualBackfire: She auditioned for the female lead in ''Film/KingKong1976''. Dino Delaurentiis said to his son in Italian (who had recommended Meryl) "why do you bring me this ugly thing?" - not knowing Meryl herself spoke Italian. She then replied "I'm very sorry that I'm not as beautiful as I should be, but, you know - this is it. This is what you get."
85	* TheCameo: As herself in ''Stuck On You''.
86	* CareerResurrection:[[invoked]] Believe it or not, Meryl suffered some setbacks in the 90s. HypeBacklash set in and some of her films were poorly received by critics - she herself growing tired of endless dramatic roles. She longed to go against type, many of these roles not doing that well either. With ''Film/TheBridgesOfMadisonCounty'', she was back in prominence. ''Film/MammaMia'' was a significant turning point for her - marking her highest grossing film.
87	--> "The greatest actress in American movies has finally become a movie star."
88	* TheCastShowOff:[[invoked]] Meryl has shown off her singing in ''Film/MammaMia'', ''Film/IntoTheWoods'', ''Film/DeathBecomesHer'', ''Silkwood'', ''Marvin's Room'' and ''Film/RickiAndTheFlash''.
89	* CelebrityResemblance: Has said that she's been mistaken for Glenn Close.
90	* CreatorBacklash:[[invoked]]
91	** ''The French Lieutenant's Woman'' is the performance she feels is her weakest (despite the Oscar nomination).
92	---> "I didn't feel I was living it."
93	** When asked by a journalist to name one bad film she's done, she picked ''Still of the Night''.
94	** When accepting an award, she thanked Harvey Weinstein, calling him “God”. Needless to say, she has since become quite embarrassed by that.
95	* CreatorBreakdown: When filming ''that'' scene in ''Film/SophiesChoice'', she did only one take and refused to do another. As a mother, she found the scene that distressing. She never watched the scene back until years later when she was being interviewed on ''Series/TheOprahWinfreyShow'' - where it was sprung on her and she is visibly uncomfortable afterwards.
96	* DeletedRole:[[invoked]] Her first film ''Julia'' had her scenes heavily cut down. She still impressed Robert De Niro enough to be cast in ''Film/TheDeerHunter''.
97	* DyeHard: [[invoked]]Naturally brunette, but best known as a blonde these days.
98	* DyeingForYourArt:[[invoked]] For ''Film/TheBridgesOfMadisonCounty'' she gained weight, feeling it was the right fit for the character.
99	* EnforcedMethodActing:[[invoked]]
100	** On the first day of ''Film/TheDevilWearsPrada'' Meryl said to Anne Hathaway - "I think you're perfect for this part and I'm going to enjoy working with you" - and then to remember that, because it would be the last nice thing she said. She kept her distance from everyone, feeling she couldn't properly "chill the blood" as Miranda. Emily Blunt joked that as soon as the movie wrapped, Meryl ran across the car park shouting [[MoodWhiplash "you were so good!"]] She ultimately regretted it, hating how she couldn't socialise with the other cast members, and vowed never to do it again.
101	** She and Mamie Gummer didn't see each other during production of ''Film/RickiAndTheFlash'' in order to create a feeling of isolation between their characters.
102	** For the "Slipping Through My Fingers" scene in ''Film/MammaMia'', she and Amanda Seyfried had heavy metal music blasted at them to get them to laugh hysterically.
103	** For a scene in ''Film/OutOfAfrica'' where Karen meets and greets several servants, it was filmed as one long continuous take. As soon as the camera rolled, a beetle crawled into Meryl's jacket. She carried on with the take.
104	* FakeNationality:[[invoked]] It's her specialty. The complete list is [[FakeBrit English]] (''Film/TheIronLady'', ''The French Lieutenant's Woman''), Danish (''Film/OutOfAfrica''), Polish (''Film/SophiesChoice''), [[FakeIrish Irish]] (''Theatre/DancingAtLughnasa''), Italian (''Film/TheBridgesOfMadisonCounty''), New Zealand-born [[FakeAustralian Australian]] (''Film/EvilAngels'', AKA ''A Cry In The Dark'') and German (''Holocaust'').
105	* FanCommunityNickname: [[invoked]] The Streepers.
106	* FatalMethodActing:[[invoked]] Two near-misses.
107	** ''Film/TheRiverWild'' - an exhausted Meryl was persuaded to do one more take of a raft scene. She got swept off the raft and nearly drowned.
108	** ''Film/IntoTheWoods'' - she tripped on her dress and fell head-first towards a concrete floor. Emily Blunt swooped in and caught her. Emily Blunt who was ''five months pregnant'' at the time.
109	* HollywoodOld: She was a full ten years younger than ''Film/FlorenceFosterJenkins'' and had to have her costumes padded to match Florence's more matronly appearance.
110	* IronLady: Very talented at portraying powerful female authority figures to the point where she was literally cast in a film called ''Film/TheIronLady'' as Margaret Thatcher! Miranda Priestly in ''Film/TheDevilWearsPrada'' was another standout example of this.
111	* IronyAsSheIsCast:[[invoked]]
112	** In ''Film/DeathBecomesHer'', she plays a terrible actress.
113	** In ''Film/FlorenceFosterJenkins'' she plays a ferociously bad opera singer, despite demonstrating that she is quite a gifted singer in real life.
114	* LargeHam: When she needs to, she can ''really'' bring the ham as her performance in ''Film/DeathBecomesHer'' shows in glorious fashion.
115	* MethodActing:
116	** She gave it a try for ''Film/TheDevilWearsPrada'', isolating herself from the other actors. Not being able to join in their fun made her so miserable that she's never done it again.
117	** ''Film/RickiAndTheFlash'' was put on hold for seven months so Meryl could learn to play guitar for it.
118	* MentorArchetype: Meta. It would be easier and shorter to make a list of young actors that ''don't'' cite her as their influence and inspiration.
119	* MoneyDearBoy: [[invoked]] She appeared in ''Series/{{Holocaust}}'' to help pay for her boyfriend Creator/JohnCazale's cancer treatment.
120	* OldShame: ''Still of the Night'' – here's a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pSt7ODV9NQ trailer]] for what the lady herself called her worst movie.
121	* OneTakeWonder:[[invoked]] ''That'' scene in ''Film/SophiesChoice'' was done in only one take, as Meryl found it too distressing to perform, since she was a mother herself.
122	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: She was nicknamed 'Meryl' as a child and only named Mary because it was family tradition.
123	* PlayingAgainstType: [[invoked]] Played with, since she does have plenty of range. But most of her roles are serious and dramatic, and a film is automatically considered OscarBait if she's in it. The films that don't conform to that:
124	** ''Film/SheDevil'' - a satirical comedy where she plays a glamorous writer. It marked her first out and out comedy.
125	** ''Film/DeathBecomesHer'' - another satirical comedy where she plays an aging diva looking to regain her youth and beauty.
126	** ''Film/MammaMia'' and ''Film/IntoTheWoods'' are musicals, the latter of which featuring her playing a witch for the first time.
127	** ''Film/TheGiver'' is dystopian sci-fi.
128	** ''Film/RickiAndTheFlash'' is a dramedy where she plays an ageing rock star.
129	** ''Film/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' - a children's fantasy film where she plays a batty CloudCuckooLander. Funnily enough, the same character would later be played by a typically dramatic actress ''again'' when Creator/AlfreWoodard took the role in [[Series/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents the Netflix series]].
130	** ''Film/ItsComplicated'' - a light-hearted RomanticComedy.
131	* PlayingHamlet:[[invoked]] Her character Donna in ''Theatre/MammaMia'' is apparently supposed to be a good deal younger than her real age, made especially clear in the sequel when Music/{{Cher}}, only three years Streep's senior, plays Donna's ''mother''.
132	* RealLifeRelative:[[invoked]] Her daughter Creator/MamieGummer has starred alongside her in ''Evening'' (playing Meryl's younger self) and ''Film/RickiAndTheFlash'' (as Meryl's daughter).
133	* SoMyKidsCanWatch:[[invoked]]
134	** She appeared in the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Bart's Girlfriend" precisely for this reason, even asking for Creator/NancyCartwright's autograph.
135	** She played Aunt Josephine in ''Film/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' because her daughter was a fan of the books.
136	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: She laments that her last name isn't 'Street'.
137	* StarMakingRole: [[invoked]]Very quick out of the gate with ''Film/TheDeerHunter'' and ''Film/KramerVsKramer'' bringing her to national attention. You could argue that her Oscar win for ''Film/SophiesChoice'' really solidified Meryl as a star.
138	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:[[invoked]]
139	** She initially was going to be the title role in ''Film/SheDevil'' but found it too similar to ''A Cry In The Dark'', so she opted to play Mary instead.
140	** She replaced {{Music/Madonna}} in ''Film/MusicOfTheHeart''. Madonna herself was chosen over Meryl in ''Evita''.
141	** She was in talks to star in a remake of ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'' in the 80s. She wasn't available, so it became a TV project with Anne Margaret as Blanche.
142	** It's rare for her to get turned down for any film role she pursues, but it has happened a few times, including ''Film/KingKong1976'' and ''Film/SweetDreams'' (both of which went to Creator/JessicaLange), ''Film/ThelmaAndLouise'' (went to Creator/GeenaDavis), ''Film/TheRemainsOfTheDay'' (went to Creator/EmmaThompson), and ''Film/{{Elizabeth}}'' (went to Creator/CateBlanchett).
143	** Films she was offered but declined include ''Film/ComingHome'' (went to Penelope Milford), ''Film/{{Alien}}'' (went to Creator/SigourneyWeaver), ''Film/AmericanGigolo'' (went to Lauren Hutton), ''Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1981'' (went to Jessica Lange), and ''Film/FatalAttraction'' (went to Creator/GlennClose).
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Context Creator / MerylStreep