Streep makes difficult portrayals seem easy

STREEP. As adept with comedy as she is with drama.

Meryl Streep is my favorite dramatic actress. I also like Vanessa Redgrave, Anne Bancroft, Angela Bassett and Jane Fonda. Streep is as adept with comedy as she is with drama, and she can be sophisticated as well as bawdy.

She starred alongside Dustin Hoffman in “Kramer vs Kramer,” displayed her kooky comic flair beside Goldie Hawn in “Death Becomes Her,” hammed it up with Anne Hathaway in “The Devil Wears Prada,” and romanced Alec Baldwin in “It’s Complicated.” She is the world’s most honored actress today!

She has improved with time as she continues to develop her craft as an actress. She has the most number of acting nominations at the Academy Awards, and she may soon equal Katharine Hepburn’s record (four) for most Best Actress Oscar wins. Considering how relatively young she is (63), she may do it sooner than expected.

Accents

Streep is admired by both her fans and contemporaries. Even as a student at Yale, she was already a standout. However, some people purposely minimize her achievements and find fault with her facility with accents.

Like the versatile Laurence Olivier before her, Meryl transforms into the characters she portrays. He is the century’s greatest actor, and she is his female counterpart! Others claim that she is all technique, but I disagree. She is thrilling to watch, because she makes difficult portrayals seem easy.

I would have loved to see Streep in challenging scenes with Olivia de Havilland or Bette Davis. More than that, I’m curious how she would fare beside Katharine Hepburn—now, that would’ve been a treat!