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Cannes Film Festival 2024: Meryl Streep Reflects On Her Career, Women In Film And Her Nearly Misplaced Oscar
Meryl Streep attended the Cannes Film Festival 2024, where she shared intimate details from her film career. The actress was honored with the Palme d’Or award at the opening night.
Meryl Streep was visibly emotional when she shared details from her career in the movies, and how she almost misplaced the Oscar. The Only Murders in the Building actress stepped in at the Cannes Film Festival 2024 on Tuesday, where she was honored with the prestigious Palme d’Or award and was left emotional by the audience, who gave her a standing ovation.
Streep, on the second day of the ceremony, talked at length about gender inequality in Hollywood, pressures on women, and almost misplacing her Oscar award.
Meryl Streep’s comments on her life in movies
Streep began her speech by recalling a popular scene from her movie, Out of Africa. The actress particularly recalled the scene where her co-star washed her hair in the river. The Oscar-winning actress shared that the intimacy of the scene is something she would not want to forget. Streep revealed, “He really got into washing my hair. "By take five, I was so in love. It's a sex scene in a way; it's so intimate. I didn't want it to end that day, even in spite of the hippos."
The Hollywood star also shared that the makers had imported animals from California for the movie, "We had lions. They were imported from California and supposedly tame, but they were not... And we were shooting in the river and there were hippopotamuses right up above it.”
Next up, the actress talked about one of the critically acclaimed movies of her career, The Devil Wears Prada. Meryl Streep portrayed the character of a fashion magazine boss alongside Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt in the film. The actress revealed that after watching the movie, a man came up to her, saying that he empathized with her character.
Streep recalled, "The first movie I ever made where a man came up to me afterwards and said, 'I know how you felt' was The Devil Wears Prada." The 74 year old continued, "That was fascinating to me. No man watches 'The Deer Hunter' and feels like the girl. But I can watch it and identify with Chris Walken's character or De Niro's. We (women) can do that; we speak that language, but it's very hard for them to feel us."
More movies from Meryl Streep’s career
Meryl Streep also talked about her character in Kramer vs. Kramer. Streep won her first Oscar for the movie that told the story of a divorcee, which was claimed to be way ahead of its time. Speaking of her character in the movie, the actress said, "It was the beginning of the women's movement -- that didn't make everyone happy... There was a lot of vitriol about these women stepping out of the role that was prescribed, leaving this poor man to raise the child."
After winning the Oscar for Kramer vs. Kramer, the actress revealed that she almost misplaced her trophy after forgetting it in a washroom cubicle. The Little Women star said, "Yes, I did leave it in the restroom. It was a very big dress. And I had to lift it up, put the thing down, and then forget that it was underneath there. But someone found it!"
The actress then talked about the movie The Deer Hunter. Streep revealed that her character in the film was restricted to being a small-town girl. "I'm a small-town girl from New Jersey. My boyfriend went to Vietnam as a medic and came back a heroin addict... so I was familiar with the effect, the emotional, personal, microcosmic effects of this story,” shared Streep.
Meryl Streep’s thoughts on women in the film industry
Talking about the current scenario of the Hollywood film industry, Streep said that she is happy that most of the successful career holders are women in the business. The actress added that she was the only actress in Hollywood at the time, which is why her early parts in the business were noteworthy.
About the portrayal of women in movies, the Academy Award winner claimed, "Even movie executives have dreams. They're living their fantasy and so it was very hard -- before there were women in green-light positions at studios -- for men to see themselves in women protagonists.”
Meryl Streep has had the most successful run in the Hollywood industry and is nowhere near to stopping. On the work front, the actress will reprise her role in the Hulu series, Only Murders in the Building’s upcoming season.
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