UA thunderous cheer greets Meryl Streep as she arrives on stage. A thousand people – including Camille Cottin, Émilie Dequenne, Zaho de Sagazan and Danièle Thompson – got up this Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. to welcome the star who came to speak for a little over an hour, on the occasion of ‘a masterclass, of his journey. She is soberly dressed. Black shirt, black pants, black glasses. An actress who looks like a writer. Last year,
UA thunderous cheer greets Meryl Streep as she arrives on stage. A thousand people – including Camille Cottin, Émilie Dequenne, Zaho de Sagazan and Danièle Thompson – got up this Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. to welcome the star who came to speak for a little over an hour, on the occasion of ‘a masterclass, of his journey. She is soberly dressed. Black shirt, black pants, black glasses. An actress who looks like a writer. Last year, it’s Jane Fonda, much more theatrical and directive in the interview with the facilitator, who took part in the exercise.
Profile change. Meryl Streep listens, and happily jokes. “Kramer versus Kramer”“Sophie’s Choice”, “Out of Africa”, “On the Road to Madison”… No actress has been so rewarded. Three Oscars for 21 nominations (a record), eight Golden Globes, and an acting award here in Cannes in 1989 for “A Cry in the Night”.
Singer
Raised in New Jersey, in the United States, she was to become a singer. “I loved singing. But in high school, I started cheerleading and smoking: my vocation was destroyed! »
She then took acting classes at Yale University. Was this training useful to him? “When you’re faced with a difficult scene, nothing can really help. You have the impression of being lost in the middle of the ocean… The best thing is to empty yourself. Where we really need know-how is when we get into a car for the fiftieth time and the director is not satisfied. This requires a lot of professionalism! »
” Do not abandon “
She enjoyed working with Mike Nichols (“he always made the actors seem perfect, then sorted it out in the editing”), with Steven Spielberg (“a genius who understands everything about cinema”), with Clint Eastwood ( “he never raises his voice”), remembers the cult scene from “Out of Africa” in which Robert Redford washes her hair with “a very tender gesture”. “We often see sex scenes in films, more rarely scenes expressing tenderness. »
There has been a lot of talk about #MeToo since the opening of the festival on Tuesday, what does the actress think? “This movement sometimes goes too far, but it has made it possible to identify numerous abuses. » She observes: “In cinema, female spectators readily identify with a male character, but it is much rarer for men to identify with female characters. For what ? »
Today, her sisters like Natalie Portman and Cate Blanchett are founding their own production company to have better control of their projects. “I tried, but I stopped because I didn’t want to be disturbed after 7 p.m. (laughs). »
Meryl Streep became, with “The Devil Wears Prada” or “Oh mom!” “bankable”, as they not very elegantly say. Profitable. “The surprise is that it happened to me when I was 58 or 60 years old. » So she concludes by giving young actors “three pieces of advice”: “Don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up. »