Actor Meryl Streep’s Oscar nomination this year for ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’ was her 20th nomination — a record. If she wins, it would be her fourth. Here’s a look at all of Streep’s Academy Award nominations and wins over the years.
Florence Foster Jenkins (2017) – Best Actress (to be determined) In this most recent feature film, Streep is a socialite who becomes an Opera singer but cannot carry a tune well. With her booming voice and effortless charm, she brings the story of Florence to life. This is also her 20th Oscar nod.
Postcards From The Edge (1991) – Best Actress (nominated) ‘Postcards From The Edge’ is a dream to watch just for one reason: two fantastic actors Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine, on the same screen. Streep plays the role of a recovering drug addict-actress who moves in with her mom (MacLaine) to turn her life around.
The Bridges Of Madison County (1996) – Best Actress (nominated) The film starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood is a romantic drama directed by Eastwood himself. The character of Streep, in her forties and Eastwood in his sixties, meet, fall in love but decide to not live together. While chemistry between the two is palpable, one can easily see the simple story was brought to life by unforgettable performance by the two leads.
One True Thing (1999) – Best Actress (nominated) In this sensitive film, Streep plays role of a mother who is diagnosed with cancer. Her daughter, played by Renee Zellweger, is a career-minded woman and struggles to balance her career and being her mother’s caretaker. How the mother and daughter reconcile their relationship forms the crux of the story.
Music Of The Heart (2000) – best actress (nominated) Streep plays the role of a violin teacher, who isn’t easy to impress in ‘Music of the Heart’. In one highly-acclaimed scene, she gives a pep talk before a performance, and says "I want you all to play from the heart.”
Adaptation (2003) – Best Supporting Actress (nominated) This Meryl Streep-Nicholas Cage starrer chronicles the life of a screenwriter as he tries to adapt a novel. Streep plays the author of the book.
The Devil Wears Prada (2007) – best actress (nominated) Meryl Streep plays Miranda Priestly, a ruthless fashion magazine editor. With a poker voice and a matching grim tone, the actress grasped the audience’s attention throughout the film.
Doubt (2009) - Best Actress (nominated) Portraying the character of a disciplinarian nun who questions the relationship between a priest and an altar boy, Streep once again proved that she can pull off any role.
Julie and Julia (2010) – Best Actress (nominated) Streep plays the character of Julia Child, a popular American chef famous for her cooking techniques and love for food. From change of voice to the walk of the character, Meryl Streep in the movie is funny, passionate and oh so lovely!
The Iron Lady (2012) – Best Actress (won) In preparation for her role as Margaret Thatcher, a figure who receives both bouquets and brickbats to this day, Streep sat in on a session of the House of Commons in the UK to observe how British MPs behave.
The Deer Hunter (1978) – Best Supporting Actress (nominated) This film tells the harrowing tale of the war in Vietnam, with Streep playing the role of the love interest Robert De Niro’s and Christopher Walken’s characters. The film gave Streep her first Oscar nomination.
August: Osage County (2014) – best actress (nominated) After the patriarch of a Southern family goes missing, the dysfunctional unit gets together. Streep stars as the narcotic-addicted mother suffering from oral cancer in this in-your-face cloying drama, featuring an ensemble cast of Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Abigail Breslin, Chris Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch and Margo Martindale.
Into The Woods (2015) – Best Supporting Actress (nominated) Based on the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical of the same name, the movie has an impressive star cast. Streep plays the character of a witch, needless to say brilliant in her performance. A sequence where she is seen singing “Don’t you know what is out there in the woods...stay with me...” is one of the movie’s highlights.
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) - Best Supporting Actress (Won) This family drama which won Streep her first Oscar, has her playing one half of an embittered couple going through an acrimonious divorce. Dustin Hoffman plays her husband.
The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1982) – Best Actress (nominated) Streep plays an actor, whose life runs nearly parallel to the character she potrays onscreen. The film was nominated for fice Academy Awards.
Sophie’s Choice (1983) – Best Actress (Won) In this cult classic, Meryl Streep plays the role of a woman making a choice in a world rife with cultural differences. Set in a nuances Holocaust background, the movie garnered rave reviews for Streep.
Silkwood (1984) – best actress (nominated) Silkwood tells the story of a nuclear-plant worker who takes on her employers when she realises that the workers are being exposed to radioactive material. The film, inspired by the life of Karen Silkwood, also starred Kurt Russell and Cher.
Out Of Africa (1986) – Best Actress (Nominated) This Sydney Pollack-directed movie has Streep playing the Danish author Karen Blixen who navigates through life with a philandering husband, syphilis, and an uncertainty related with being in a country different from one’s own.
Ironweed (1988) – Best Actress (nominated) It’s set in the time of the Great Depression where Francis (Jack Nicholson) and Helen (Meryl Streep) meet and form a relationship. Streep’s character is terminally ill, and she plays it in the way of a person who knows they have no future.
A Cry In The Dark (1989) – Best Actress (nominated) The film relates the life of the Chamberlain family in Australia, whose nine-week-old child disappeared. The blame falls on the mother Lindy Chamberlain, played by Streep. The Chamberlains are eventually exonerated, but not before doing jail time.
