Meryl Streep is perhaps one of the most successful actresses of all time. She has made a name for herself as an exceptional talent, becoming one of the most respected individuals in the film industry through her work in many critically acclaimed projects like The Deer Hunter, Sophie’s Choice, The Iron Lady, and The Devil Wears Prada. On top of this, the actress has also set the record for the female actor with most Oscar nominations of all time, having been noiminated for the award 21 times and won three times.
Being this successful at what she does, it is quite surprising that Streep did not think her career would remain the same after she reached the age of 40, afraid that she would get type cast in the most rediculous way possible.
Meryl Streep Thought That Her Career Would Degrade After She Turned 40
Despite being one of the most successful actors of all time, Meryl Streep once revealed that when she was 38-years-old, she would fear that her career was already over. The actress elaborated, stating that she was afraid that after she hit the age of 40, she would not longer be able to take up worthwhile role, being forced to play witches and hags in sub-par films to make ends meet.
“I always felt that my career was over starting at 38 years of age. I’m 66 now. Every year after that, I’d always say, I’d better take this because, you know. … In those days I had no reason to imagine that I would have a career past 40. You could work up to 40 and then you’d start playing hags and witches. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t play a witch until ‘Into the Woods’ — and I had been offered many. It was that trough that women fell into.” she stated
This was not the case for the actress as even though she started to get offered roles like that when she hit that age, she did not take them. Streep instead, became a force to be recond with, playing impactful and memorable roles in some of the most amazing films ever made. The question that arises, however, is that did Streep point out a bigger problem?
Did Meryl Streep Point Out A Pattern?
In the film industry, it is quite an unfortunate yet common practice for women in Hollywood to be removed for considertion for the main character roles the moment they are considered as ‘undesirable’ to men. This is usually done to these actresses the moment they turn a certain age, in most cases, the age of 40. Many women in the film industry were not as lucky as Meryl Streep when it came to their career trajectory and ended up have experienced this phenomenon and many have been very vocal about fearing it.
Anjelica Huston, best known for her work in projects like The Grifters, was only 38 when she was cast in the 1990 film, The Witch. Margaret Hamilton was even younger than Huston, being only the age 36 when she was cast as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, being type cast for the rest of her career.
Source: Variety
