The actor Cillian Murphy called his generation’s Meryl Streep: “I don’t know if anyone’s said this before”
One of Hollywood’s most dangerous double-edged swords is an actor earning comparisons to one of the greats who came before them. Sometimes it’s accurate, sometimes it’s not, and it often feels nothing but lazy. Still, Cillian Murphy was willing to stake his reputation on naming his era’s Meryl Streep.
Labelling a performer as the second coming of somebody else has been a staple of stage and screen for decades. Everyone who bursts onto the scene with an authentic, immersive, and naturalistic acting style stands in the shadow of Marlon Brando, and for every Al Pacino and Robert De Niro who become legends in their own right, there’s a Mickey Rourke lurking on the other side of the coin.
For female actors, it’s usually Streep. On one hand, it makes sense because she’s been delivering standout performances for half a century, winning three Academy Awards and earning a record-breaking volume of nominations. On the other, some stars bristle at her being treated as some kind of deity: ask Sharon Stone.
While her accolades and array of unforgettable turns in a wide range of films have understandably elevated her onto a certain pantheon, Streep has never been too fond of her legendary status. However, she’s only got it because of the body of work she’s accumulated, making it an inescapable catch-22.
Murphy has never worked with Streep, but he has collaborated with the person he described as her natural heir. The Oscar winner’s A Quiet Place Part II and Oppenheimer colleague Emily Blunt has worked with her, though, with The Devil Wears Prada serving as the breakthrough role that launched her Hollywood career.
“I don’t know if anyone’s said this before, but I really do think she’s the Meryl Streep of her generation,” Murphy told Rolling Stone. “Because Streep is an actor who has this incredible range, but she’s always surprising you with her choices. And that’s Emily. There really is this, ‘Oh, there’s nothing you can’t do, is there?’ feeling when you’re in a scene with her.”
To be fair, he’s got a point. After all, Blunt has earned an Oscar nomination for playing Kitty Oppenheimer, stepped into Julie Andrews’ shoes as Mary Poppins, saved the world from an alien invasion alongside Tom Cruise, survived a silent apocalypse in two Quiet Place movies, stole scenes in The Devil Wears Prada, headlined an episodic western in The English, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Many actors have been dubbed the second coming of Meryl Streep over the years, and not all of them have lived up to the billing. Blunt is most definitely her own person and her own type of actor, but Murphy remains adamant that she’s the closest thing their generation has to its own version.
