I LOVE Meryl Streep!!

"Let's face it, we were all once 3-year-olds who stood in the middle of the living room and everybody thought we were so adorable. Only some of us grow up and get paid for it."

Early in her career, Meryl Streep received a letter from Bette Davis, whom most critics and cinema historians rank as the greatest American movie actress ever. Davis told Streep that she felt that she was her successor as the premier American actress. Ironically, According to Katherine Hepburn's official biographer A. Scott Berg, Meryl Streep was her least favorite modern actress on screen: "Click, click, click," she said, referring to the wheels turning inside Streep's head.

Well all I can say is “Click, Click, Click” has served her very well. I struggle to think of an actress who has turned out such a tremendous body of work as Streep. Even when she stumbles in a role, she is usually ten times better then a lot of actresses who have won Academy Awards in recent years.

Think about the roles she has played. Joanna Kramer in “Kramer vs Kramer” was her first Oscar win, but did not prepare us for things to come, especially the one, two, three punch of Sarah/Anna in “The French Lieutenant's Woman” (1981), the heartbreaking Sophie Zawistowski in “Sophie's Choice” (1982) and Karen Silkwood in “Silkwood” (1983).
These were followed by, what I like to call, her maturing years, where she perfected her craft.

During this time no performance makes me shudder at the brilliance of Streep that her Lindy Chamberlain in “A Cry in the Dark”. The steely coldness she resonated when in the face of the press to the superb accent delivered flawlessly, to the grief over the death of her baby, this is probably one of my favourite performances ever.
This came smack in the middle of her Karen Blixen in “Out of Africa” and Helen Archer in "Ironweed", two other fearless and vanity free performances.

She ended the 80’s and spent the early part of the 90’s steering away from the drama and focusing on proving her impressive comedy skills with “She Devil” (1989), “Postcadrs from the Edge” ” (1990), “Defending Your Life” (1991) and “Death Becomes Her” (1992). She all but stole each movie from her co-stars and started becoming a fixture at the Golden Globes in both the Comedy/Musical category and the Drama.

She has this insane talent where she can give you entire emotions with one simple look, or in one word. When you see her on screen next, notice the small and tiny touches she gives to add history and back story to her characters. From kicking the fridge door shut behind her in “The Bridges of Madison County” to the way she utters the word ‘stuff in the “cerulean scene in “The Devil Wears Prada” she demonstrates how less is so much more.

Forget the Oscar wins and nominations for a second and think about how, even though she is one of the most celebrated actors in the world, she remains ‘real’. You feel you could approach her and have a laugh with her over wine and cheese. She is also graceful in interviews, and has the most impeccable comic timing. When she does make a rare public appearance she does not seem to worry about what she is wearing, she is that rare thing in Hollywood, an actress comfortable in their skin.

Here are some interesting things I learned about her.

She has a fear of helicopters.

Has a deviated septum, which she refuses to have fixed. Directors work around it by avoiding straight-on close-ups.

The children's TV series "Sesame Street" has featured a character named "Meryl Sheep" in her honour.

Was originally supposed to play the role of Iris Hineman is the film Minority Report (2002), but had to back out. She was replaced by Lois Smith.

Originally applied to Law School but slept in on the morning of her interview and took it as a sign she was destined for other things.

Diane Keaton calls her "my generation's genius."

Has only been turned down for two roles: Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams (1985) and Miss Kenton in The Remains of the Day (1993).

Took serious singing lessons. At age 12, she studied to become an opera singer.

Friend of of Jill Clayburgh. First met in their roles as mothers.

Drives a Toyota Prius . How environmentally friendly of you, but I would expect no less.

Has named her favourite actresses working today as Cate Blanchett, Emily Blunt, Dame Helen Mirren and Nicole Kidman.

I could list all the great work she has done (Marvin’s Room, Angels in America, One True Thing, The River Wild, Adaptation, The Hours and on and on) but you all know by now what a formidable talent she is, I mean if you look at her IMDB page you will see that she has ten, yes, ten movies in the works right now.
Look for Meryl to be winning her third, if not forth Oscar soon.