Before there was MERYL STREEP! there was Meryl Streep: a sensitive, subtle actor who gave terrific performances in movies like Sophie’s Choice, A Cry in the Dark, and the Bridges of Madison County. But some time around the turn of the century, it became impossible to see her name in anything but klieg lights. Her performances became less evocations of real people and more impersonations of them. In many cases, literal impersonations: Streep won praise (and an Oscar) in recent years for her impressions of, among others, Julia Child, Margaret Thatcher, and Katharine Graham.
Concurrent with the rise of her profile as The Greatest Actress of Her Time has been her ascent to her new role as the Conscience of Hollywood (if not the whole of America). She’s dressed down Donald Trump repeatedly in public, to much acclaim. That her belated disavowal of Harvey Weinstein looks both dishonest (she claims, strangely, that she had no idea of the accused serial sexual predator’s behavior, even though it was widely known) and inconsistent (she worships at the altar of convicted child rapist Roman Polanski) has done little to dim her star.
And now comes the news that she will appear in the second season of HBO’s heretofore superb series Big Little Lies. This is unfortunate on several levels. For one, the first season of Big Little Lies was truly an ensemble product, showcasing terrific performances by Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgard, Zoe Kravitz, and Adam Scott, among others. Adding a star of Streep’s wattage will end all that. Like an invasive species, she’ll move in, and the show will suddenly be all about her.
Streep will reportedly play the mother of Witherspoon’s character. Any number of other female actors of a particular demographic and look could probably have filled the role: Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Holly Hunter etc. Was another Streep role really necessary? It’s often pointed out that few roles are available to women who had previously been movie stars once they reach a certain age. Well, it’s even harder with Streep gobbling up all of the good ones.
