50 Fun Facts About Meryl Streep

What is Meryl Streep's real first name?

Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty named Streep's character Mary Louise Wright after her legal name.

In which state was Streep born and raised?

She was born in Summit and grew up in Basking Ridge and Bernardsville, where she was a cheerleader and homecoming queen.

At age 12, Streep began lessons in what after being chosen to sing at a school recital?

She studied with Estelle Liebling for four years but quit, saying she was 'singing something I didn't feel and understand'.

Which play at Vassar College in 1969 first got Streep interested in serious theatre?

Her drama professor said 'I don't think anyone ever taught Meryl acting. She really taught herself.'

At which university did Streep earn her Master of Fine Arts?

She waited tables and typed to pay fees, appeared in a dozen productions a year, developed ulcers and thought about switching to law.

Auditioning for the 1976 King Kong remake, Streep understood when which producer called her ugly in Italian?

She replied: 'I'm very sorry that I'm not as beautiful as I should be, but, you know – this is it.'

Which actor's Taxi Driver performance made Streep decide 'that's the kind of actor I want to be when I grow up'?

He later saw her in The Cherry Orchard and suggested her for his girlfriend in The Deer Hunter.

Which actor, Streep's partner, was dying of lung cancer while they both filmed The Deer Hunter?

They met doing Measure for Measure in the park; she nursed him until his death in March 1978 and said 'I didn't get over it. I don't want to get over it.'

Streep's first feature film role was a small flashback part opposite Jane Fonda in which 1977 film?

Most of her scenes were cut and she thought 'I've made a terrible mistake, no more movies. I hate this business.'

For which 1978 miniseries, watched by an estimated 109 million, did Streep win her first Emmy?

She played a German woman married to a Jewish artist and admitted she took it for the money.

For Kramer vs. Kramer, Streep insisted the script be revised because her character was what?

Director Robert Benton let her write her own dialogue in two key scenes, despite Dustin Hoffman, who 'hated her guts' at first.

Where did Streep famously leave her first Oscar after her acceptance speech?

The Deer Hunter and Kramer vs. Kramer were consecutive Best Picture winners.

Which 1981 film, pairing Streep with Jeremy Irons in a story within a story, was her first leading role?

It won her a BAFTA; New York magazine called her a 'chameleon' willing to play any type of role.

In Sophie's Choice, Streep's character is a survivor of Auschwitz from which country?

She filmed the 'choice' scene in one take and refused to do it again; Roger Ebert wrote she had 'the first accent I've ever wanted to hug'.

Which actress did William Styron have in mind for Sophie when he wrote the novel?

Streep was determined to get the role; Premiere later voted her Sophie the third greatest movie performance of all time.

Streep's first real-life role, in a 1983 Mike Nichols film, was which nuclear whistleblower killed in a car crash?

Silkwood had been investigating the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant.

Which Danish writer did Streep play opposite Robert Redford in Out of Africa?

Director Sydney Pollack had doubted she was sexy enough and considered Jane Seymour; they clashed over the aristocratic voice she copied from tapes.

For which film did Streep win at Cannes, playing an Australian mother convicted of killing her baby?

Lindy Chamberlain maintained a dingo had taken her daughter; Streep said learning Australian was 'like coming from Italian to Spanish'.

Streep lobbied to star in Oliver Stone's planned 1989 adaptation of which musical, then dropped out?

She cited exhaustion, though a salary dispute was later revealed.

Which friend wrote Postcards from the Edge (1990) and made Streep godmother to her daughter?

Streep quoted her in 2017: 'Take your broken heart and make it into art.'

Which 1992 black comedy with Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis was the longest shoot of Streep's career?

She got into character by 'thinking about being slightly pissed off all of the time'.

For The Bridges of Madison County, Streep modelled her Italian farm wife on which two screen stars?

She gained weight for the part and watched Pasolini's Mamma Roma; Clint Eastwood directed and co-starred.

In Music of the Heart (1999), Streep played which real-life violin teacher?

Ebert wrote that even her 'no accent' here was someone else's voice, not her own.

Which real journalist did Streep play in Spike Jonze's Adaptation. (2002)?

The role won her a fourth Golden Globe; Chris Cooper played the orchid poacher.

How many roles did Streep play in the HBO miniseries Angels in America (2003)?

It brought her second Emmy and fifth Golden Globe, alongside Al Pacino and Emma Thompson.

What is the name of the fashion editor Streep plays in The Devil Wears Prada?

It brought her a record-setting 14th Oscar nomination and grossed $326.5 million; the sequel arrived in May 2026.

On which real Greek island was Mamma Mia! filmed, standing in for the fictional Kalokairi?

With $602.6 million, it became her highest-grossing film and the top-grossing musical of its time.

In Doubt (2008), Streep played the principal of a Catholic school in which New York borough?

One critic called Sister Aloysius 'the scariest nun of all time'; all four leads were Oscar-nominated.

Which chef did Streep play in Nora Ephron's 2009 film about a blogger cooking through a French cookbook?

It was the first major film based on a blog; Amy Adams cooked all 524 recipes as Julie Powell.

For The Iron Lady, Streep prepared by attending what?

Thatcher's friends called the portrayal 'inaccurate' and 'biased'; the film brought her third Oscar.

How many Academy Awards has Streep won?

Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie's Choice and The Iron Lady, from a record 21 nominations.

How many Academy Award nominations does Streep hold, a record for any performer?

Her 34 Golden Globe nominations are also a record.

Streep donated her fee for The Iron Lady, $1 million, to which institution?

She is the museum's spokesperson and it now gives an annual Meryl Streep Educator Award.

Which musical instrument did Streep learn for Ricki and the Flash (2015)?

She played a checkout worker who is a rock musician by night, alongside her daughter Mamie Gummer.

Which British suffragette leader did Streep play in a small role in Suffragette (2015)?

Promoting the film she cited a 760-to-168 male-female ratio among Rotten Tomatoes critics.

Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) cast Streep as a woman famous for being what?

Hugh Grant and Simon Helberg co-starred; it brought her 20th Oscar nomination.

In The Post (2017), Streep played which newspaper publisher opposite Tom Hanks's Ben Bradlee?

The Pentagon Papers drama earned her 21st Oscar nomination.

Streep's first main TV series role came in season 2 of which HBO show, as Nicole Kidman's mother-in-law?

She accepted the part without reading a script, a first in her career.

Which relative did Streep play in Greta Gerwig's Little Women (2019)?

The Hollywood Reporter said she was 'clearly having a ball as the imperious snob'.

In Don't Look Up (2021), Streep played what?

Variety said she was 'clearly having more fun than we are'.

What is the name of the struggling actress Streep plays in Only Murders in the Building?

She joined the Hulu series in its third season, opposite Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez.

Which singer-songwriter was Streep cast to play, in later life, in a Cameron Crowe biopic?

Anya Taylor-Joy was cast as the musician in the 1960s and 70s.

Streep's husband since 1978, Don Gummer, works as what?

They married six months after Cazale's death and have four children; reports in 2023 said they had been separated for six years.

How many children does Streep have?

Henry is a musician; Mamie, Grace and Louisa are actresses.

Which president awarded Streep the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014?

The citation praised her 'unparalleled ability to portray a wide range of roles'.

Whom did Streep criticise in her 2017 Cecil B. DeMille Award speech for mocking a disabled reporter?

She said an 'instinct to humiliate' from the powerful 'gives permission for other people to do the same thing'.

In 2015 Streep funded a screenwriting lab exclusively for which group?

The Writers Lab was the only one of its kind in the world.

Asked in Belfast how she reproduces accents, what did Streep reply, in a perfect Belfast accent?

Her range runs from Danish and Polish to Minnesota, Upstate New York and a heavy Bronx.

Whose albums did Streep say taught her most about using her voice as an 'instrument'?

She grew up listening to Streisand, the Beatles and Bob Dylan.

On which country's music chart did Streep's recording of 'Mamma Mia' reach number eight in 2008?

It also won Favorite Song From a Soundtrack at the People's Choice Awards and brought her fifth Grammy nomination.