The first time I realised Meryl Streep is an amazing actor was when I saw her in The Devil Wears Prada, which is unfortunate because she’s done great work from the get-go. Streep has been in about 72 films and her talent and experience is pretty much unmatched.
So, of course, she’s a well of wisdom and knowledge. Almost everything she says is literal gold, and we can all learn something from her. Especially what she said in this CBS interview when she spoke about how women are often treated differently as actors.
It’s a brief snippet of her talking about the questions that male actors are asked during interviews and press conferences, and how largely different they are to what female actors are asked.
No one has ever asked an actor, ‘You are playing a strong-minded man.’ We assume that men are strong-minded, or have opinions. But a strong-minded woman is a different animal.
-Meryl Streep for 60Minutes, CBS
Which is pretty accurate, because women are mostly asked appearance-related questions, instead of those on their character, or personal opinions of their character.
Basically, all the practical, technical and calculative questions are mostly directed towards the male cast, whereas the lighter, more surface-level ones are sent towards the female cast; implying that those are the only questions they’re capable of answering. Which is a small but significant way in which women are often undermined, TBH.
We totally stan Meryl Streep!