LEGENDS OF CINEMA: MERYL STREEP SIMPLY THE BEST

Meryl Streep is the best actress alive—and nobody doubts it.

The numbers back up the argument. She has been nominated for a record 21 Oscars.

Admired as much for her humility as her versatility, the acting icon has kept her feet on the ground while her career has hit the heights.

Receiving a career achievement award at the Golden Globes, Streep said, “An actor’s only job is to enter the lives of people who are different from us and let you feel what that feels like.”

Raised in New Jersey, she started out on the stage and was happy performing in Broadway plays, only going up for film roles after being inspired by Robert De Niro’s work in 1976 film Taxi Driver which showed her the possibilities of screen acting.

Making her film debut in 1977 in the drama Julia alongside Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave, Meryl has since gone on to star in 70 more movies including big commercial hits like Mamma Mia, The Devil Wears Prada, Death Becomes Her and The Bridges of Madison County.

Out of those 21 nominations, her three Oscar winning roles came for playing a troubled wife in Kramer vs Kramer, a Holocaust survivor in Sophie’s Choice and Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

More critical acclaim came with the likes of Out of Africa, The Deer Hunter, Doubt, Silkwood and The Hours.

Now at 71 she’s still at the top, is a role model and an inspiration for so many others. Truly, a legend.

—Sandro Monetti