There is a strong case to be made that Meryl Streep is the most respected actor of her generation. The 74-year-old actor picked up a lifetime achievement award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
Streep has amassed a record haul of awards and built a filmography of modern classics that stretches across six decades. It includes dramas such as The Deer Hunter, The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Kramer vs. Kramer, to family favourites like Mamma Mia! and The Devil Wears Prada.
It is her vocal skills that have often set her apart — from the Danish drawl in Out of Africa to her note-perfect impersonation of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. The iconic actress also learned Polish so well for Sophie’s Choice that locals believed she was one of them.
She has picked up other skills along the way, practising six hours a day for eight weeks to learn the violin for Music of the Heart.
Streep has admitted her efforts could sometimes go too far.
Many acting awards
She took a method acting approach to her turn as a fashion magazine boss in The Devil Wears Prada. There, she maintained her icy facade even off-camera. However, she later said that it was a “horrible” experience and vowed never to do it again.
But her dedication has paid off time and again.
She has a record 21 Oscar nominations and three wins. In addition, she has a record eight Golden Globes, two BAFTAs, and many other prizes. And unlike many of her contemporaries, she has remarkably few duds among her 60-plus appearances. She still scored regular critical acclaim with recent films such as The Post, The Laundromat, and Don’t Look Up.
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Surprisingly, she has been at Cannes only once before. She did manage to win best actress that year for 1989’s A Cry in the Dark.
“Because she has spanned almost 50 years of cinema and embodied countless masterpieces, Meryl Streep is part of our collective imagination, our shared love of cinema,” the festival organisers said in a statement.
Streep said in a statement how “immeasurably honoured” she was to receive the honorary Palme d’Or award at the festival’s opening ceremony.
“To stand in the shadow of those who have previously been honoured is humbling and thrilling in equal part,” she said in a statement.
‘Family comes first’
Streep has never been one to get carried away by the trappings of fame, preferring to live as anonymously as possible at her home, where she has raised her four children.
“Being famous gets in the way of a lot of things. My family really does come first. It always did and always will,” she once said.
Born Mary Louise Streep in June 1949 to a New Jersey pharmaceutical executive and a commercial artist mother, Streep went to an exclusive school where she became a cheerleader and began acting in plays. She continued acting at the historic Vassar liberal arts college. There, she studied English and drama, before winning a drama scholarship to Yale, where she graduated in 1975.
Her Broadway debut came the same year with Trelawny of the Wells. She won rave reviews for it, making her film debut two years later with World War II drama Julia.
Her career went stellar with three lauded films over the next two years. The films included The Deer Hunter, Kramer vs. Kramer and Woody Allen’s Manhattan.
