Her Again: Becoming
Meryl Streep (2016) is the biography of American actress Meryl Streep in the
early years, from 1966 in the Bernards High School’s theatrical productions to
1980 and her first Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the film Kramer vs. Kramer
(1979).
Each of the seven
chapters is headed with the name of a character portrayed by Streep: Mary,
Julie, Constance, Isabella, Fredo, Linda (The Deer Hunter), and Joanna (Kramer
vs. Kramer). The exception is Fredo, the character played by her partner John
Cazale in The Deer Hunter.
Born Mary Louis Streep
in 1949, Meryl attended Bernards High School and Vasser College (1969-1971)
before being accepted into the Yale School of Drama (1972-1975). Schulman
blends Streep’s involvement in amateur drama productions with current events –
Vietnam war, Vassar transitioning from an all-girls college to co-ed – and
information on the books she read and the people who influence her.
The move to New York
at the age of 26, and her relationship from 1975-1978 with actor John Gazale
until his death from cancer, and her marriage to sculptor Don Gummer in 1978
are well-documented. But it is her transition from theatrical roles in Broadway
and off-Broadway plays to film that are interesting, especially her years in
the Yale School of Drama. Her interpretations for improvisations and how she
prepares for character roles give an insight into the way she appears on
screen.
Her first American
screen role, second to her brief scene in Julia (1977), was as Linda, the
checkout girl ‘between two guys’ in The Deer Hunter (1978), starring Robert de
Niro and Christopher Walken. It was her role as Joanna, fighting for custody of
her son Billy, starring opposite Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer that was
the springboard to a long career in acting.
Schulman describes Streep
as an idiosyncratic beauty, a chameleon, versatile, the ‘accent queen’ and
‘beyond bold’ in her acting techniques. Although the biography is based on
extensive and exhaustive documents and interviews with people who worked with
Streep, he never interviewed her. So this is a compilation of secondary
information. However, he does provide a full list of footnotes and some
photographs.
Nominated for 19
Academy Awards (Oscars), she has had more nominations than any actor, and has
won three Oscars: Best Supporting Actress in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Best
Actress for Sophie’s Choice (1982), and Best Actress in The Iron Lady (2011)
portraying British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Schulman does cover
the early years comprehensively and tries to bring to light Streep’s
development as an actor: her style, techniques, choices, influences,
benefactors, props, rehearsals, and delivery, such that the title is quite
appropriate – Becoming Meryl Streep. But for those who want more, Schulman
deliberately does not venture into Streep’s long career, and stops at 1980 – 36
years short of the continual evolution of Meryl Streep.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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