The performance Meryl Streep wished her mother could have seen
Meryl Streep is undeniably one of the silver screen’s greatest actors. Beloved by both critics and audiences, her unforgettable performances have solidified her place in cinematic history. Few can forget her devastating portrayal of a Holocaust survivor in Sophie’s Choice—a role that earned her her first Oscar—her iconic turn as the Anna Wintour-inspired Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, or her fierce embodiment of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.
Streep’s rare accomplishment in both comedic and emotive acting has made her a talent with indisputable box-office pull and an Academy Awards heavyweight. 21 well-deserved nominations make Streep the most Oscar-nominated actor in history, and there can be little doubt that there will be more laurels to come.
Streep’s talents have won fans from audience members of all types, but there can be little doubt that her popularity is owed in large part to her example as a trailblazing Hollywood woman who has brought some of our best female characters to the screen. Her unforgettable role as Donna Sheridan in the Mamma Mia! franchise continues to delight audiences and is of special personal importance to Streep herself.
Speaking to Good Housekeeping, she said: “I wish my mother was alive to see this. When I was a kid, she took me to every single show. In high school, I was in musicals, but at college, I got diverted into acting. I never sang again for years and years.”
Streep’s parents, she says, were always “very encouraging with whatever we wanted to be”. Inspired by their example, Streep did not discourage her own daughter, Mamie – perhaps best known as Nancy Crozier in The Good Wife – from following her mother into the limelight. Although well experienced in the hard knocks of the business, she joked that she sometimes wished her daughter had chosen a more reliable career.
Adding: “Yes, like nuclear physics! I don’t get a choice on what Mamie does. I never have. She knows the good and bad of our business, but she loves it, and she’s good.”
This touching portrayal of intergenerational love and support mirrors the narrative of Mamma Mia!, likely contributing to Streep’s special connection to the film. While the plot revolves around Sophie’s (Amanda Seyfried) quest to discover her true father, the heart of the musical lies in the mother-daughter relationship between Donna and Sophie. One of the film’s most poignant moments occurs when Donna sings ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’ to her daughter as she prepares for her wedding, capturing the deep bond and bittersweet emotions of parenthood.
This heartfelt depiction of the love between mothers and daughters resonated deeply with female audiences of all ages, contributing to Mamma Mia‘s success and securing an enduring place in the hearts of cinemagoers. It undoubtedly strengthened Meryl Streep’s already iconic status, as her performance helped create an emotional connection that has left a lasting impact.
Since Mamma Mia, Streep has not shied away from singing on screen, delighting audiences with her Witch in Into the Woods and taking on the titular role of a vocally challenged singer in Florence Foster Jenkins. Having hid her vocal talents from audiences for “years and years”, Streep shows no sign of depriving us of them again now. For that, we owe our gratitude to her mother.
