‘The Deer Hunter’
Streep scored her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for 1978's The Deer Hunter, a drama centered on the Vietnam War. Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken co-starred in the film.
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‘Kramer vs. Kramer’
Starring opposite Dustin Hoffman and Justin Henry, Streep played a mother who abandons her husband and child and then comes back later to claim custody of their son in the 1979 drama. She won her very first Oscar for her supporting performance in the film.
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‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’
Streep earned her first best actress Oscar nomination for her lead role opposite Jeremy Irons in the 1981 romance drama set in 19th century England.
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‘Sophie’s Choice’
In the 1982 romance drama, Streep and her lover Nathan (Kevin Kline) become friends with a young author, Stingo (Peter MacNicol) who learns that she is a holocaust survivor. Streep took home the Oscar for best actress in 1983 for her leading performance in the film.
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‘Silkwood’
The 1983 drama-thriller saw Streep in the role of a nuclear facility worker who grows nervous about the safety practices at the plant. Kurt Russell and Cher co-starred.
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‘Ironweed’
In the 1897 movie, Streep played a traveling drunk and sometimes lover to former baseball star Francis Phelan (Jack Nicholson).
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‘Out of Africa’
Starring opposite Klaus Maria Brandauer and Robert Redford in the 1985 romantic drama, Streep played a high-class woman who moves to Africa with her unfaithful husband and ends up falling in love with another man.
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‘A Cry in the Dark’
Streep played the role of a mother who fights to prove her innocence when she is accused of the murder of her own child in the 1988 drama, originally titled Evil Angels.
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‘Postcards from the Edge’
The actress starred as a recovering addict who is forced to stay with her alcoholic mother (played by Shirley MacLaine) in the 1990 dramedy.
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‘The Bridges of Madison County’
The 1995 romance drama saw Streep play the role of a housewife who falls for photographer Robert Kincaid (played by Clint Eastwood) upon a chance meeting.
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‘One True Thing’
Streep played Renee Zellweger's cancer-stricken mother in the Carl Franklin-directed film, which earned her a best actress Oscar nom in 1999.
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‘Music of the Heart’
In the 1999 indie film, Streep played a depressed music teacher who teaches underprivileged children in Harlem. When the program is shut down due to budget cuts, Streep proves she will do anything to keep the program up and running.
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‘Adaptation.’
The 2002 Spike Jonze-directed film saw Streep star alongside Chris Cooper and Nicolas Cage, who played the role of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.
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‘The Devil Wears Prada’
Starring opposite Anne Hathaway, the actress scored a best actress Oscar nom for her portrayal of Miranda Priestly, the merciless editor-in-chief of New York's top fashion magazine.
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‘Doubt’
The actress played a strict Catholic school principal in the 2008 mystery-drama, also featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams.
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‘Julie & Julia’
The 2009 dramady saw Streep play famous French cuisine chef Julia Childs, while co-star Amy Adams played Julie Powell, a blogger who vows to master all of the recipes in Childs' cookbook and learn the struggles of becoming a chef.
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‘The Iron Lady’
Streep won the Oscar for best actress for her portrayal of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the 2011 biopic.
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‘August: Osage County’
The 2014 film, starring Streep, Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney and Ewan McGregor, centered on the drama that unfolds at a family reunion in Osage County, Oklahoma.
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‘Into the Woods’
The actress portrayed the Witch who curses a baker (James Corden) and his childless wife (Emily Blunt) in Disney's musical drama Into the Woods. The role served as Streep's most recent Oscar nomination.