From Prada to politics: Meryl Streep's best performances
That's all
The Devil Wears Prada 2 arrives in cinemas this coming Friday, May 1, and we all know who we’re here to see. David Frankel’s sequel sees the peerless Meryl Streep returning to one of her most iconic roles after an oh-my-god-say-it-ain’t-so 20 year break.
Asserting that it’s a stand out role really is saying something for an actor whose name has become shorthand for acting royalty and awards season success.
In a movie career that dates back almost 50 years, the New Jersey native has won three Oscars from a staggering 21 nominations.
That’s a record that no other actor even gets close to. Jack Nicholson and Katharine Hepburn are in joint second on 12 nominations, and it’s fair to say that neither is going to be adding to that tally. Streep, on the other hand, is still going strong.
Having your name consistently pulled out of an envelope on awards night doesn’t automatically correlate to acting ability, but the sheer consistency of Streep’s output across the decades has been impressive.
Here are some of her finest movie performances, starting with the role that prompted this list.
The Devil Wears Prada
For such a dramatic titan, Streep sure does have a light touch when it comes to comedic material. Allegedly modelled on Vogue editor Anna Wintour but very much a Meryl Streep original, her Miranda Priestly is a work of withering genius. David Frankel’s original film sees Streep chewing every scene she’s in (and even a few that she isn’t) as the editor-in-chief of a high class fashion publication, who treats Anne Hathaway’s naive rookie journo with a level of disdain that would seem downright abusive were it not laced with so much acid wit.
The Post
Steven Spielberg directing Meryl Streep sounds like the kind of Hollywood combo we should have seen more of, but the two have only worked together twice – and only once, in 2017, did that partnership yield a full live action performance from the actress. It was worth the wait, as The Post is a fabulous film that shows Streep at her conflicted best. She plays Katharine Graham, the real life publisher of The Washington Post during the famous Pentagon Papers period, when the publication made its name reporting on the US government’s less-than-scrupulous involvement in the protracted Vietnam conflict.
The Deer Hunter
Think of The Deer Hunter, Michael Camino’s searing insight into the psychological effects of war, and you might well think about its who’s who cast of young male actors making their early mark on Hollywood. Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage and John Cazale star as three young friends who head off to the Vietnam war. But it’s the quieter, more subtle performance from Meryl Streep that really beguiles, shrugging off the potentially by-the-numbers role as a point of romantic conflict between two of our war heroes to offer something more substantial and real.
Out of Africa
Streep plays Danish author Karen Blixen in this 1985 historical epic, starring opposite Robert Redford’s big game hunter Denys Finch Hatton. Out of Africa is the kind of sweeping drama that tends (or at least tended) to attract awards attention, and sure enough, it won Sydney Pollack both the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars for that year. Streep would only secure a nomination for the movie, but her resilient portrayal of the real life aristocrat – and her admirable attempt at a Danish accent – stands out to this day.
Julie & Julia
Streep has always had a knack for imitation and for moulding herself into real life roles, and those skills were on full display in 2009’s Julie & Julia. Nora Ephron’s movie casts her as the US cookery writer Julia Child, and rather brilliantly contrasts her story with that of a young New York fan played by Amy Adams. Streep’s take on Child is, by all accounts, eerily accurate, capturing her distinctive mannerisms without resorting to empty caricature. She’s rather good at this acting lark, isn’t she?
Doubt
Streep’s Sister Aloysius Beauvier is the crusading moral heart of John Patrick Shanley’s adaptation of his own Pulitzer Prize-winning play, which concerns potential abuse in an American Catholic elementary school. There aren’t many actors that could stand toe to toe with the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman, but Streep more than holds her own, imbuing her character with equal parts fortitude and outrage. In a film that never gives us a pat answer to its central mystery, Streep’s performance is the surest thing there is.
The Iron Lady
![The Iron Lady Official Movie Trailer [HD] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jX398kx-OCM/maxresdefault.jpg)
American audiences tend to hold Streep’s performance in The Iron Lady in rather higher regard than us Brits (she won the Best Actress Oscar for it), but that’s more than likely down to our nation’s strongly held views about the film’s real life subject. What’s unarguable is that Streep does an excellent job of playing Margaret Thatcher, the longest-serving Prime Minister of the 20th century and the first ever woman to lead the nation. She nailed the politician’s very particular accent and mannerisms, and expertly conveyed her famously iron will while leaving space for glimpses of doubt and weakness.
Kramer vs Kramer
Streep’s first Oscar win came just two years into her Hollywood career, playing one half of a bitterly feuding couple. It’s quite literally a cinematic head to head for the ages, as she fights with Dustin Hoffman’s career-obsessed husband – for custody of their child, for legitimacy in front of an impassive court, and (on a meta level) for the hearts and minds of the increasingly uncomfortable audience. It’s fair to say that she more than holds her own in each department.
Sophie's Choice
Alan J. Pakula’s 1982 film secured Streep her second Oscar and her first (and arguably most well deserved) Best Actress win. She plays a Polish immigrant to the United States with a dark and tragic secret in her past, while her precarious present involves a relationship with a mentally unstable lover (played by Kevin Kline). It’s emotionally wrenching stuff, but Streep pulls it all off with an impressively subtle grace, not to mention her usual affinity with accent work.
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