“Beyond wonderful”: the actor Meryl Streep envied
When Meryl Streep started acting, her success was almost instantaneous. After appearing in Julia, her feature film debut, Streep quickly landed a role in The Deer Hunter, a part she largely took on so she could be near her boyfriend, the actor John Cazale, who had terminal cancer. She ended up earning an Oscar nomination for the part despite her character initially having little importance in the screenplay.
The fact that Streep turned a seemingly unimportant role into an incredible one was a sign of her innate talent. One of her next significant roles was Joanna in Kramer vs. Kramer, which won her the Oscar for ‘Best Supporting Actress’. She won her second Oscar just a few years later for Sophie’s Choice, in which she played a Polish immigrant living in America who had previously worked as a secretary after she was sent to Auschwitz, where she had to make a horrific decision.
Streep’s ability to play such emotionally complex and demanding roles became apparent, and she continued her reign of Hollywood with roles in films like Silkwood, Out of Africa, The Bridges of Madison County and Ironweed, all of which have earned her Oscar nominations. She eventually won another in 2012 after portraying Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.
The actor is the most nominated of all time, having been recognised by the Academy 21 times. Her career has been highly enviable, with Streep starring in everything from dark comedies to intense dramas and even musicals. Despite her brilliance, Streep’s not even sure how she embodies each character she plays so perfectly. During a speech at Princetown University, she revealed, “I have been smug and willfully ignorant. I’ve cultivated a deliberate reluctance to investigate my own method of working because I’m afraid of killing the goose. I’m afraid if I parse it, I won’t be able to do it anymore.”
You might think that someone as accomplished as Streep has never felt jealous or envious of another actor – after all, who else has achieved so much critical acclaim? Yet, in an interview with The Talks, the actor revealed that she “envied Jessica Lange when she got Sweet Dreams,” adding, “That was such a great movie; she was beyond wonderful in it.” The film came at the height of Streep’s career, and she wanted the role, having previously worked with director Karel Reisz on The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
Yet, she was denied the part, which Lange snapped up instead. The movie was a biopic about country star Patsy Cline – her rise to fame, tumultuous and abusive relationship with Charlie Dick, and eventual death in a plane crash. Lange received an Oscar nomination for the part, and she competed against Streep in the category (who was nominated for Out of Africa), although they both lost out to Geraldine Page.
Interestingly, this wasn’t the first part that Streep lost to Lange. The actor auditioned for the 1976 film King Kong, but she was rejected for being “ugly” (in the eyes of Dino De Laurentiis), and Lange got the role instead. It proved to be her breakthrough role, even earning her a Golden Globe. Still, there’s no bad blood between the two, and Streep greatly admires Lange.