HOLLYWOOD — Pop quiz: Over the past three years, which A-list actress has become a potent force at the box office, starring in a string of films that have taken in more than $1.1 billion worldwide? Is it Angelina Jolie? Reese Witherspoon? Kate Winslet? Or Sandra Bullock?
Need a hint? She turned 60 in June.
Yes, Meryl Streep, she of the multitudes of Oscar nominations, has for the first time in her career become genuinely popular, at a time when most of her female peers have been shoved into early quasi-retirement, and even slightly younger male cohorts, like Kevin Costner and Bruce Willis, are shedding commercial viability as fast as their hair.
The woman, once famed for playing a suffering Holocaust victim (“Sophie’s Choice”) and chilly ex-wives (“Manhattan” and “Kramer vs. Kramer”) is now best known to audiences of all ages for eating young fashion assistants for breakfast in “The Devil Wears Prada,” enthusiastically jumping up and down singing Abba tunes in “Mamma Mia,” and trilling happily in Julia Child’s distinctive voice in “Julie &Julia.”
It’s been a grim year for the A-list. Many recent expensive star vehicles have fizzled at the box office, including Adam Sandler’s “Funny People,” Will Ferrell’s “Land of the Lost,” Russell Crowe’s “State of Play” and “The Taking of Pelham 123,” which starred John Travolta and Denzel Washington.
Even Julia Robert’s “Duplicity” failed to connect with moviegoers. And now, for the first time in two decades, the industry is seriously re-evaluating movie-star worth and applying downward pressure to actor paydays.
In the face of the summer’s typical onslaught of teenage-boy-oriented whammies and explosions, she’s gaily offered character and panache, going full tilt after the usually ignored female audience.
In the past three years, she’s jetted from comedies to musicals to biopics with a stopover at classic Oscar fare.
Streep has finally gotten rid of her elite air. She is no longer a figure more admired than beloved, and has become a movie star for the masses.
“She’s found the right hybrid that mixes her dramatic and comedic skills,” says David Frankel, who directed her in “The Devil Wears Prada.”
“There’s a warmth to her performances now that I think maybe wasn’t there earlier in her career. There’s also a joy to her performances. In ‘Julie &Julia,’ she’s downright giddy,” Frankel said.
“It looks as if she’s matured to a point that very few actresses get to, arriving at the ‘Hell, I don’t really care anymore’ place. She’s not afraid to be mean or hated. She’s not afraid to be unglamorous,” said film historian Jeanine Basinger.
The list of actresses who enjoy careers that span multiple decades is not a particularly long one: Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn for example, all stayed in the spotlight for close to 50 years or more. But the number of actresses who experience a commercial resurgence during their third decade on screen is even shorter.
Streep declined to comment for this story but last year pointed out that three of her last four movies (“Mamma Mia”, “Julie and Julia”, and the upcoming comedy “It’s Complicated”) were directed by women, and all her box-office hits were championed by female movie executives or female producers.
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