The three movies Meryl Streep will always regret
Meryl Streep, a cinematic giant, has left an indelible mark on the hearts of moviegoers for generations. From Woody Allen to Michael Cimino, Sydney Pollack to Steven Spielberg, Streep has consistently collaborated with the best filmmakers around and given us arguably the greatest slate of female performances in movie history. But as with any prolific artist, her journey is punctuated with roles that she reflects upon with a mixed bag of emotions.
Her entry into Hollywood was marked by the 1977 film Julia, directed by Fred Zinnemann. Starring Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave, the film followed the titular character of Julia, a young woman dedicated to fighting the Nazis in the lead-up to WWII. Streep appeared briefly in a fleeting flashback sequence – and much to her dismay, a significant portion of her performance was left on the cutting room floor.
Reflecting on the bits that made it to the final cut, Streep recounted her horror at the creative liberties taken. Cited in Karina Longworth’s book, Meryl Streep: Anatomy of an Actor, Streep explained: “I had a bad wig, and they took the words from the scene I shot with Jane and put them in my mouth in a different scene” she revealed, expressing a feeling many newcomers might resonate with: “I’ve made a terrible mistake, no more movies. I hate this business.”
Fast-forwarding a few years to 1981, The French Lieutenant’s Woman posed a new challenge for Streep. Based on the 1969 novel by acclaimed author John Fowles, the story follows the burgeoning romance of a man and woman in the Victorian era – and the relationship between the two actors playing them in a subsequent dramatisation many decades later. Under the direction of Karel Reisz, Streep was entrusted with a particularly complex role: playing an actor within a film, grappling with emotions both on and off-screen.
Though the role earned her accolades like a Golden Globe and a BAFTA, her own feelings were far from triumphant. Confessing on an episode of The Graham Norton Show, Streep shared that she “didn’t feel I was living it.” The lack of connection to her character ultimately meant she wished she’d had a second chance: “You always want to do something better after the fact,” she said.
By 2006, Streep was well established as an acting force to reckon with – but formally cemented when she took on the daunting character of Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. Directed by David Frankel, this film was a satirical exposé into the world of high fashion and power dynamics. As she dove deeper into her character’s psyche, Streep experimented with Method acting, aiming to be Miranda both on and off the camera. This immersive experience, however, proved slightly too taxing.
Recalling her foray into the Daniel Day-Lewis/Marlon Brando territory of acting, Streep held no punches, telling IndieWire: “It was horrible! I was [miserable] in my trailer. I could hear them all rocking and laughing. I said, ‘Well, it’s the price you pay for being boss!’ That’s the last time I ever attempted a Method thing.”
