After nearly five decades of Hollywood success under her belt, Meryl Streep remains active today with a host of block busters and coveted trophies under her belt. From a record 21 Academy Award nominations, Streep has won three Oscars for her roles in Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice and Out of Africa. However, like all Oscar-winning actors, Streep’s rise to the top hasn’t been a walk in the park.
During a past appearance on the BBC’s The Graham Norton Show, Streep revealed that Karel Reisz’s 1981 drama The French Lieutenant’s Woman was categorically her worst performance. “I’m giving myself an out, but part of it was the structure of it,” the actor told Norton. “It was sort of artificial because I was the actress playing The French Lieutenant’s Woman. At the same time, I was an American actress playing a British woman.”
“I was young and new at this,” Streep added, noting her lack of experience at the time. “I didn’t feel like I was living it. You always want to do something better after the fact.”
Indeed, Streep displayed admirable resolve over the ensuing years, tackling a steady stream of highly acclaimed roles through the 1980s and ’90s. Streep has remained notably consistent over the past four decades, but one of her greatest boons became a curse.
In 2006, Streep starred in David Frankel’s The Devil Wears Prada as the devious fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly. Taking cues from some of her Oscar-winning peers, she employed the controversial method acting approach to get her performance on point. This approach had a heavy hand in her success over the previous couple of decades, but it was a double-edged sword.
While the immersive approach produced an Oscar-nominated performance that many critics cited as central to the movie’s appeal, it took its toll on Streep. “It was horrible! I was [miserable] in my trailer,” Streep reflected in a 2021 interview with Entertainment Weekly. “I could hear them all rocking and laughing. I was so depressed! I said, ‘Well, it’s the price you pay for being boss!’ That’s the last time I ever attempted a method thing!”
Although The Devil Wears Prada was a satirical study of the high fashion industry, Streep’s character had to keep a hard line of severity. Beyond forcing herself into the mindset of the callous, resolute Miranda Priestly, Streep also channelled Clint Eastwood’s unsmiling swagger.
“It was just a direct steal from the way I saw Clint Eastwood run a set,” Streep added. “He’s someone that guys really respect. And he never raises his voice, ever.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Streep said it was the first movie she’d been in where “men have come up to me and said, ‘I Know how you feel.’” She outlined that, as a tyrannical figure, the character transcended gender stereotypes.
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