Thee Meryl Streep Oscar Ranking
I rank Meryl's Oscar nominations, like any employed person does.
In case you are unaware, Meryl Streep is an indisputable legend.
(Pictured Above : Meryl Streep, indisputable legend)
Often considered one of the greatest film stars of all time by her peers and audiences alike. She has a record number Twenty One (21!) Oscar nominations over a four decade running career. Which is where this newsletter comes in… I decided to do what nobody asked me to do, and take a deep dive into every movie Meryl Streep has ever gotten Oscar nominated for and rank her performances specifically. Though, I do feel as though oftentimes my feelings on a movie does impact my feelings on the performance and that especially applies here. I don’t deny my biases going in. While I’m discussing biases, I’ll go out of my way and say that before I start, I have seen a handful of these before I decided to do a deep dive marathon. For fairness, I did rewatch those as well as part of this marathon, but one movie specifically I have a major nostalgia bias for and it may or may not have skewed with the results of this ranking. I guess my final disclaimer is I’m not an acting expert. I took acting classes and spent most of my youth in drama clubs and lessons, but nothing I’d call professional, this is strictly subjective and for a little fun!
At first I wasn’t sure exactly how to approach getting into All Of These Nominations, a record number I emphasize : she is the most Oscar nominated performer in the history of the Oscars. Ultimately, I decided just chronologically, and I have reason for it as well! Not only is that simply just logical, but there’s this consensus among film enjoyers (on Twitter, mind you) that she’s more or less deserved the nominations throughout her career, but then in the past decade or so (her last few nominations) they were just handing them to her for name recognition alone and that she stopped earning them. Going in, I was planning on defending some of her recent nominations, but I’ll get into that when I discuss those movies.
Also, it’s worthy of noting that before she was an Oscar nominated actress she was an Emmy winning actress! For her work in the show Holocaust (1978), one of her first screen credits ever (she also had gotten a Tony nomination in 1976 for her work in 27 Wagons Full Of Cotton, which obviously has no impact in this discussion, as I can’t very much watch it now) I did not feel like extending this to Emmy’s because… I have a job. I was already watching at least one Meryl Streep film daily, and on my days off trying to fit in upwards of three so I could have this newsletter done by the end of May, adding in every TV credit she got recognized for would just be… more! Maybe one day.
I also watched two movies for fun rather than for her newsletter, so if you check my Letterboxd you will notice I snuck in Defending Your Life (1991) and Mamma Mia! (2008). I decided to add in Mamma Mia! because I love cinema and when I tweeted about this decision one of my Twitter mutuals (shoutout to Ryan, Twitter user bambipaisen) recommended I add Defending Your Life. They will not be included on this ranking for obvious reasons, but I do recommend adding in some other movies into your experience if you decide to do what I did and dive into Meryl’s big nominations. In the first decade or so of her nominations they almost all had this bleak quality to them that I needed a change of pace desperately but also wanted to keep a steady pace going so I wouldn’t lose motivation. You need a plan!
THE RANKING (weakest to best) -
21. Music Of The Heart (1999), Meryl Streep as Roberta Guaspari.
Nominated for : Best Actress.
Oscar Moment : Good violin work?
(Pictured Above : Meryl Streep in Music Of The Heart. She really loves a bang!)
Explanation For Placement : I actually think, even at her worst, Meryl delivers. Her performance in this movie was perfectly fine. But, gun to my head and you told me I had to get rid of one of Meryl’s nominations, it’d be this one. I was not terribly in touch with the awards race that year, I can’t very much say whether she deserved it or not… maybe it was a slow year, I couldn’t tell you… but I can’t imagine this was one of the most deserving performances of any year. I may be getting ahead of myself. This was a biopic drama about a recently divorced mother of two (one of the two being Kieran Culkin!) who finds her way into becoming a music teacher in Harlem and teaches the kids the magic of the violin through taking on a blunt and rude persona, I guess! The movie desperately does not want to be a White Savior narrative but if they had Hilary Swank pick up a violin, Freedom Writers would get sued for plagiarizing this movie.
In fairness it’s based on a true story, but even if this was a shot for shot recreation of real life… it wouldn’t make it good. But, this isn’t about my thoughts on the movie, it’s the performance… as I said, Meryl did fine work here… but there’s nothing crazy impressive to mention. I don’t know anything about the true story or the person she was playing. Maybe it was a dead-on portrayal of the woman and that’s why she got the nomination, I couldn’t tell you. To me, it just seemed to be the typical tropey story of a Teacher who Changes these Kids Lives for the Better! Like if School Of Rock met Freedom Writers, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and say this is just exactly what happened and nothing could’ve made this movie better whatsoever, I wasn’t there, what do I know! That doesn’t change how Lifetime everything about it was. I liked that Angela Bassett was in it! I wish she and Meryl had better material in their only collab.
I know this is ranked last, but points for learning violin!
20. Ironweed (1987), Meryl Streep as Helen Archer.
Nominated for : Best Actress.
Oscar Moment : Her musical number!
Explanation For Placement : Oh, this is going to be a hot take, I fear?! Well, not really, because I doubt much of my audience has seen this, but… for the ones that have, I’m so sorry!
She was nominated as lead but she just simply was never the focus of this film and definitely was never a real co-lead. She was simply supporting to Jack Nicholson. This film is about, let me just copy this off from google, “In Depression-era Albany, N.Y. (Author’s note : Upstate NY represent!) erstwhile baseball star Francis Phelan (Jack Nicholson) has become an alcoholic vagabond after guilt over accidentally killing his infant son led him to desert his family. Over the course of several days, he ambles from gritty job to dirty bar to makeshift sleeping quarters. By chance, he encounters fellow itinerant drinker and his sometime lover, Helen Archer (Meryl Streep). Together, they wax nostalgic about their haunted pasts.” She was supporting to his lead every step of the way and was not even in the first 30 or so minutes and she was not in the last 20 or so minutes. This was her first case of category fraud, I’m telling you!
Her line delivery makes this stand out amongst her nominations, though, she was really giving it all of her being! This is another year I don’t know much about the Awards Race for, but I am happy this got nominated and that I watched it (the He’s Me Pal scene was a little too iconic) but it really just wasn’t much of a part in the grand scheme of things (her career), and I can’t imagine I’d be actively rooting for this performance to win Best Actress… especially since I feel as though Supporting Actress would have been a much more obvious fit for it.
I know people may think the next few nominations should be below this, and I respect that. As I’ve previously stated, the only nomination I disagree with was #21. We are moving into a tier where I enjoy these nominations, even if I may have my doubts and critiques.
19. Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), Meryl Streep as Florence Foster Jenkins.
Nominated for : Best Actress
Oscar Moment : Her finding out she can’t sing from the newspaper, and everything that comes from that.
Explanation For Placement : I had fun with this performance, honestly. I went into her later career worried that the rumors that she fell off would be more showing, when actually the third act of this had some genuinely very great work from her. The third act was when they started to give her more emotive work to do. She was definitely the heart and soul of this movie, but throughout it was a little one dimensional examination of her and more so focussed on Hugh Grant’s character as he was a huge moving force for the actual plot, but when the third act gave her the focus it was the highlight of the movie, I’d say.
In case you are unaware, Florence Foster Jenkins is a biopic about… Florence Foster Jenkins. Somewhat of a camp icon now, she was an Opera Singer infamous for being… vocally impaired! This film gives more context about her life such as how she got to be on stage and her health struggles surrounding her. I thought I’d like this less, but liking this more than I thought I would, still lands her performance amongst the lowest rated. The movie itself borders on Lifetime biopic territory but Meryl gives it a lot of heart that made it a fun time. I also quite liked her intentionally bad singing performances throughout, she put her Streepussy into them.
18. Into The Woods (2014), Meryl Streep as The Witch.
Nominated for : Best Supporting Actress.
Oscar Moment : “OBVIOUSLY I’d prefer a live cow”
Explanation For Placement : I watched the stage version of this starring Bernadette Peters as The Witch just to be well versed going into this newsletter. Though, rather than compare it to other versions, I do want to judge Meryl’s performance on its own merit. With that in mind, I actually like this performance a lot and I even like this nomination! The problem, however, is I feel as though a benchmark for Meryl’s most iconic best performances is when I couldn’t imagine anybody else doing them… Which might be where having seen other performances of this part corrupts my ranking a bit. Also, The Witch is such a pre-existing character that is far before Into The Woods. Meryl had shoes to fill and though she filled them effectively, it does effect how unique the part is to Meryl even without directly comparing it to Bernadette or anyone else specifically.
In case you are unaware, Into The Woods was adapted from a Broadway musical that basically combined several classic fairy tale characters and stories into one storyline, and the chaos that ensues. Think if Disney decided to do Avengers Infinity War again but with Disney Princesses and instead of action it was a semi-tragic musical. Meryl’s character was The Witch who placed a curse on James Corden’s father to make sure their bloodline would never survive generations but she gives James a chance to reverse the curse.
Anyways, Meryl has played parts that have been done on stage or screen before and she made it feel expertly done to the point the other performances don’t even exist to me anymore. This just doesn’t have that same effect. Don’t get me wrong, it still has Meryl’s signature prowess, and she gave it her all! I know people that love this performance and others that hate it. I like the performance quite a bit and I quite like when Meryl does a musical (another hot take), but also… it’s ranked 18th out of 21. I can’t pretend I’m front of the line praising it like some others might.
17. August : Osage County (2013), Meryl Streep as Violet Weston.
Nominated for : Best Actress
Oscar Moment : #That dinner table scene. Or really any given clip, she was doing the most the entire film in every single scene.
Explanation For Placement : I don’t remember where I read this, whether it was on Letterboxd or a published review, but it sticks with me every time I’ve watched this movie - it said that this may not have been the best acting of whichever year, but it was definitely the most acting. I was actually surprised that when asked which Meryl nomination is their favorite, a number of people said this one. I do quite like this performance but I do think it would’ve been a top of her career performance if she were in a stage play over film. I do know some people don’t like this performance very much because she made some… strong choices in line deliveries and such, which I liked! But others didn’t, and I think the exact performance choices would’ve slayed on a stage. Perhaps that’s how most stage actors portray Violet’s mannerisms and that’s why Meryl emulated them? I haven’t seen the stage production, I can’t compare.
Meryl plays the matriarch of a family who is dealing with cancer and once her husband is gone, her family comes back and there’s a little reunion, aw! But, as suspected with such a storyline, they are extremely dysfunctional.. but not in the fun quirky way, moreso in a watching some scenes in this could make your skin crawl off your body type of way. I actually like this movie, but it has that quality where you can tell it was a play first and I do imagine it works better as a play than a movie. Really I can't justify ranking this higher, but if you haven’t seen it… you should just google any clip from it to get an idea for yourself of how much you’d like it. I’d recommend watching any clips of her and Julia together, those were the highlights anyways.
16. Out Of Africa (1985), Meryl Streep as Karen Blixen.
Nominated for : Best Actress
Oscar Moment : Accent!
Explanation For Placement : Imagine my surprise finding out this won Best Picture. I don’t really know what to make of this, I guess me ranking this as low as I am is a hot take because clearly somebody out there loved this! It won Best Picture! Meryl always has a quality to her that makes it hard to take your eyes off of her when she’s acting, but I wasn’t moved by this role specifically, maybe I’ll have to revisit it one day to get it.
The worst, most un-detailed description of this movie would be : it’s about Karen’s time spent in Africa where she has a little love triangle between her husband of convenience vs. a developing true love. I couldn’t give you a much more detailed description than that because I can’t lie and pretend I was invested in this movie outside of the very pretty cinematography. Honestly, the fact this got so much Oscar love back in the 80s is a little interesting to me, but I do know some people who absolutely adore it, so maybe I just didn’t Get It. And that’s okay!
15. Adaptation. (2002), Meryl Streep as Susan Orlean.
Nominated for : Best Supporting Actress
Oscar Moment : “You loser! You’ve ruined my life, you fat fuck!”
(Pictured above : Meryl Streep and Nicolas Cage in adaptation.)
Explanation For Placement : This is the main ranking that goes against my personal enjoyment of the movie. This is top 3 movies on this list, but performance wise she was definitively supporting which is just a harder sell for ranking highly. Like, sure, there’s objectivity, but with someone like Meryl where she’ll objectively deliver time and time again… eventually size of part does play a factor, which is why this ranked… not highly. Still great work and a terrific movie.
Adaptation. Is about screenwriter adapting a book written by Meryl’s character, well, not character, really. It’s a meta comedy-drama type movie where Nicolas Cage is playing the writer of the movie, and Meryl Streep is playing a real writer or a real book, you know… just google it if you haven’t seen it. Anyways, the entire ending of this movie is just nuts and Meryl easily deserved her nomination.
14. The Post (2017), Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham.
Nominated for : Best Actress
Oscar Moment : This had a few, actually! But that scene with Alison Brie near the end. Nobody can deliver a teary monologue quite like her.
Explanation For Placement : I respect this performance a lot. It’s her most recent one and it possibly has some of her strongest work of the past decade or so. But this movie is just not my thing at all. I can’t really criticize much about her performance… She does great work, though!
The Post is a Historical Political Thriller (whatever that means) about journalists in The Washing Post attempting to publish some Pentagon Papers which are like classified documents or whatever, just google it. This isn’t High School History Class, this is my newsletter. Meryl plays Katharine Graham, famously the first twentieth century female publisher of a major American newspaper and I don’t know much about this woman, but this movie paints her out to be somewhat of a girlboss who puts everything on the line for the publishing.
Again, I don’t care for this movie like that, but it was hard to deny what Meryl delivered in this part. Several scenes in this made me go “yeah, I can see why Meryl got this nomination”, she delivered, especially in the third act.
13. The Deer Hunter (1978), Meryl Streep as Linda.
(Pictured above : Meryl Streep in The Deer Hunter, her first Oscar nominated role)
Nominated for : Best Supporting Actress
Oscar Moment : Honestly most of the scenes she was in could work for something.
Explanation For Placement : This was what started my journey, her first Oscar nomination, and it left a definitive impression. Ranking it was a struggle of sorts, and originally I had it a bit higher, but I have come to this conclusion and I am sticking with it.
The Deer Hunter is a Vietnam war movie… yeah, anyways. Meryl plays Linda who plays the object of both Mike (Robert DeNiro) and Nick’s (Christopher Walken) affections. She starts the movie getting abused by her father and as such moving in with Mike and Nick, and getting wed by Nick. Sounds like a happy turn of events for her, but then the second half of the movie happens but anyways this isn’t a recap.
I think what ultimately made me want to rank this higher was it being her first Oscar nomination and so early in her career. It is such an expert performance that could’ve easily have been a one-sided, love interest stock character type role. Her only being in the first and third acts, it being a mostly male cast war movie. She could’ve slipped into boring tropes, but she gives such an understated and nuanced portrayal of a woman in these circumstances. The only thing holding me back from sneaking it into my top 10 would be the fact that she is absent for a lot of the runtime, and as I’ve previously stated, that does factor in my rankings.
12. Julie & Julia (2009), Meryl Streep as Julia Child.
(Pictured Above : Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia)
Nominated for : Best Actress
Oscar Moment : Her toppling the patriarchy in the cooking classes
Explanation For Placement : This originally was ranked a little bit higher because I do have a soft spot for this movie, but I do think, clear commitment to this role aside, she was sidelined in the narrative despite also being… the center of the narrative? Sort of like what I said about Florence Foster Jenkins, but different. This was a Julie movie with a B-plot for Julia, which wasn’t given the depth needed to make this a later career highlight for Meryl to ME.
For those unaware, Julia Child is an iconic chef. Getting into all of the reasons why she is so iconic would be an entire newsletter in itself, but for time her exuberant personality and mannerisms have made her beloved over time, and her cookbook is at the center of this story. This story transcends decades because in a more modern setting, Amy Adams’ Julie Powell decides to start a blog where she cooks every recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook.
Don’t get it twisted when I say Julia was the B-plot, Meryl gave this part a lot! She became Julia rather than let her be an impression, which when someone has such clear mannerisms to imitate it could be easy to fall into becoming an SNL impression. In a different project I think she could’ve even won an Oscar for playing Julia. I can absolutely see why a few people listed this as their favorite nomination, it’s one of the ones I had the most fun watching.
11. Silkwood (1983), Meryl Streep as Karen Silkwood.
Nominated for : Best Actress
Oscar Moment : “I’m internally contaminated, then!” The trauma.
Explanation For Placement : I actually had a bit of a conflict deciding where to rank this exactly, and specifically where I should rank this between The Post, The Deer Hunter, Julia & Julia and what I have ranked above it. So think of 14, 13, 12, 11 and 10 as tied. They aren’t ranked, they are all on a similar level for me and for different reasons.
Her doing this immediately after Sophie’s Choice is a little bit iconic. She just replaces accents day after day in my head. My favorite scenes tended to be the ones with Meryl and Cher on screen! Sophie’s Choice was the first time I noticed Meryl just completely transforms into any and every character she’s given, and this further proved that. It seems seamless to her. Her roles before were ever as excellent as well, but Sophie’s Choice and this had such vastly different… everything to them and she just transformed into them. It’s clear she was committed to giving authentic performances and she did so with power. She played Karen Silkwood in this, who was a real woman who worked at a nuclear facility or whatever and there was a little bit of wrongdoing and drama there, radiation or whatever and she was going to have a little exposée moment and as such was probably murdered, you know… the whole thing.
That being said, this was not my favorite movie. This movie was just her being put through trauma beginning middle and end, and wow the ending was very chilling and I think a large point of what made this work was, in fact, Meryl’s expert level work. I have put so much thought into this ranking and really can’t decide where the perfect spot for this would be… because if she had won it would’ve been more than deserved… but the movie itself doesn’t stick with me quite enough to rank it higher, I suppose. 12 out of 21 isn’t low, obviously, but I feel as though one could argue this performance as top 5 in her filmography, and I wouldn’t dispute that, but I personally just am not at that level.
10. The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981), Meryl Streep as Sarah and Anna.
Nominated for : Best Actress
Oscar Moment : Whichever monologue made me type in my notes “Monologue QUEEN”.
Explanation For Placement : I think the most interesting part of this was the dual roles of it all. She gave what other careers would be seen as a Magnum Opus very early in her career! She’s played other roles with versatility and duality, but this gives her quite literally two entirely opposing characters and allows her to give an acting performance inside of an acting performance, which is so entrancing to witness.
This movie is basically a movie-inside-a-movie type, where Meryl Streep stars as an actress starring in a period piece about forbidden love, and when she and her co-star find themselves infatuated with one another, it leads to feelings growing in real life as well - and the period piece and modern storyline start mirroring one another. Really, the structure of this movie could’ve been a bit better, but it allowed for the performance itself to be particularly compelling and I have found that monologue on YouTube and I am right. She is the monologue QUEEN. Before going into this one I had it in my head that this was going to be the movie I had to get through to move onto better projects… I was pleasantly surprised by it and it being her first Leading nomination is so special because it really was expert level work fresh off of her first win.
9. One True Thing (1998), Meryl Streep as Kate Gulden.
Nominated For : Best Actress
Oscar Moment : #That monologue to Renée, “I want to talk before I die!!”
Explanation For Placement : I feel as though most people would rank this lower than me… and that might be fair. This is another case of category fraud or at least I believe it to be. Maybe I’m too picky on the categories, but Renée was always the lead of this, and Meryl was always the supporting role here… no? Maybe it isn’t that serious, but it is the only thing holding me back from ranking it higher, I adore this performance a lot.
Basically, this movie is about a matriarch of a family is diagnosed with cancer and starts to struggle more and more and dying and her daughter returns home to care for her. When returned home, secrets start unraveling and the daughter’s perception of her childhood and her parents starts to shift. Meryl is the mother who never had the best of relationship with her daughter, who always idolized her father more.
Though I firmly believe she would’ve fit better in the Supporting category, Meryl’s work here was heartbreakingly good. Especially as the film progressed and we got more and more of her. I do admit I felt a special connection with this film and it hit a little close to home for me in ways I won’t get into, but honestly… even without my bias, I feel as though she did such brilliant work in the third act specifically. I was torn up by her performance at times. Does having bias inherently mean I’m wrong?
8. The Iron Lady (2011), Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher.
(Pictured Above : Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady)
WON For : Best Actress
Oscar Moment : The scene where her husband leaves or whatever
Explanation For Placement : I went into this expecting the worst. I didn’t think I’d like it. I didn’t. But I failed to consider, I could hate something and be blown away by a performance at the same time. And wow, this was very that. A very worthy Oscar win.
In case you are unaware, this movie is about Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and the first woman to hold that title… and if you do any amount of googling or know anything about her, you know she is somewhat of a controversial figure and one where several criticisms follow… the movie didn’t bother doing anything with that, and instead making the movie a girlboss take. I don’t have a stake in that discourse nor am I qualified to discuss it, but I’ve seen nothing but criticism in how the movie approached her… BUT, I think the one thing universally acclaimed about this film was Meryl’s work. Even if people disagree with her win, they don’t criticize her work here… and for a reason.
Another biopic performance where Meryl perfectly encapsulates the essence of the subject while also not falling into imitation. She becomes the subject, rather than give an impression. There were moments in this where I did not see it as Meryl acting, she bodied the role. I do wish it wasn’t a biopic and it was just the story of an older, mentally unwell woman reflecting on her life and experiences, but… I guess it got her the Oscar, so what do I know? I feel like I’m underselling how good her performance is and why it ranked so high, and that’s entirely because I didn’t enjoy this movie very much. Her work was practically perfect in all aspects.
7. A Cry In The Dark (1988), Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain.
(Pictured Above : Meryl Streep in A Cry In The Dark. A dingo took her baby.)
Nominated for : Best Actress.
Oscar Moment : “A dingo took the baby.”, that scene where she’s on the stand near the end.
Explanation For Placement : A dingo took her baby. And then she was on trial for it. And she’s doing an Australian accent in this. So not only was she portraying a woman in constant crisis, and a woman being tried for said crisis, she also did an accent that people seem to say is perfect, but I don’t know enough about dialect to judge. She also had the iconic bob + bangs hairstyle. Iconic and excellent performance
6. The Bridges Of Madison County, Meryl Streep as Francesca Johnson.
Nominated for : Best Actress
Oscar Moment : Quite a few but the way the rain scene portrayed so much with no dialogue
Explanation For Placement : This is the one I want to rewatch the most, which might play a factor in it placing in the top 6 and originally higher until I started writing this issue. I realized that, although this is one of my favorite movies I watched, I can’t rank it much higher than this, which to be fair… is still VERY high, I don’t know why I’m still trying to justify not ranking things higher.
Anyways, this movie is about a dead mother, and the kids find these notes and it goes back in time to her star-crossed love affair with Clint Eastwood. Very Nicholas Sparks before Nicholas Sparks was Nicholas Sparks. I love a tragic romance, what can I say? Meryl was ever captivating. I can’t wait to rewatch this very soon.
5. Doubt (2008), Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius.
Nominated for : Best Actress
Oscar Moment : The final scene. “I have such doubts!”
Explanation For Placement : I do fear people have started to overlook this performance because in just a single scene Viola Davis stole the show and became the star she is, but this was actually a brilliantly chilling showcase for Meryl as well.
Doubt is another adaptation of a play, and this one is about a strict Nun who suspects a Priest of wrong-doing and as such takes measures to try and catch and get rid of him… this is the most vague description of the movie possible, but it’s a very discomforting film, and this newsletter is no drama!
Anyways, this is, in my opinion, the best Meryl has gotten in bodying a truly cold, dark and vicious character. Her first line delivery in this film sent a literal shiver down my spine. The fact that this came out in the same year as Mamma Mia! shows just how much range she could display in her later career. She made me feel comforted and terrified in the same year! Not everybody has that talent. The last scene in this movie also showed this wasn’t a one-note performance. It was a quite layered, conflicted and driven performance as well. A masterclass.
4. Postcards From The Edge (1990), Meryl Streep as Suzanne Vale.
Nominated for : Best Actress.
Oscar Moment : Her confrontation with Shirley MacLaine
Explanation For Placement : I was worried when ranking this that people would be like “this has no business being in the top 5, you are insane” but when I asked my twitter followers, a number of people called this their favorite, so I know I’m not alone at least.
Postcards From The Edge was written by Carrie Fisher and is semi-autobiographical. It’s about a Hollywood star fresh out of rehab post-overdose, staying with her mother whom she has a complex relationship with. It was the most comedic Meryl performance at this time in binge-watching her nominations, but it doesn’t shy away from the confrontations and drama of it all. The movie itself has some issues, but Meryl’s performance was so consistently compelling that it made the issues seem irrelevant and her working with Shirley Maclaine was so powerful to witness. It also just checks every box for me. I love films about Hollywood stars, I love films about complicated mother/daughter relationships, I love the balance between comedy and drama - not every actor can deliver both equally as strong, but Meryl delivered with ease. People can call me unserious, but I know I’m not alone in believing this is some of Meryl’s strongest work.
3. Kramer vs Kramer (1979), Meryl Streep as Joanna Kramer.
Won for : Best Supporting Actress.
Oscar Moment : Really any scene she was in? Her scene at court near the end, or the final scene, perhaps.
Explanation For Placement : Her first win was her second nomination, and it was ever deserved. I had always thought she was a lead, but she actually wasn’t in this for the entire middle hour of the film… but wow, in such a limited amount of time, and as a supporting role, she was powerful and fundamental for this movie’s success.
This movie is basically about a married couple with a kid, but Ms. Joanna is quite unsatisfied with her life, so she leaves. But after some time has passed, she comes back and wants custody. Legal battle ensues. Think Marriage Story (2019) but if it was just Adam Driver figuring out how to be a father for an hour and then Scarlett Johansson comes back for the kid, and Adam Driver is like “literally stop”.
Anyways, though in it for a limited window of time, Meryl Streep delivers a practically flawless performance and wastes not a single second of her screen time. Unforgettable and without her this movie wouldn’t have been nearly as impactful. Some of her scenes still stick with me and replay in my head sometimes.
2nd. The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly.
(Pictured above : Meryl Streep as The Devil Wears Prada)
Nominated For : Best Actress
Oscar Moment : God, every single scene… but the Cerulean monologue is a little too iconic.
Explanation For Placement : So… MY audience already knew this was going to be top 3… and I’m sure I don’t even have to explain why. However, I’ve seen people rank this quite lowly and the general reasoning is because of the category fraud of it all. And while I do agree. Anne Hathaway was fully the lead of this film and Meryl was more so an antagonistic part rather than a co-lead… Meryl is The Devil in question. And my goodness, does she play it so well.
The movie follows Andi who is NOT a fashion girl who gets a job at a fashion magazine and her boss is a very cutthroat and cold figure who does not spare people's feelings. If you know the story, you know the story and if you don’t I’m not going deeper into it.
In short, Miranda Priestly is one of the best film villains of the 21st Century. And Meryl’s work here is what makes it what it is. I know people argue it’s category fraud, but Meryl (with help from underrated performances from Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt, no doubt) is what makes this movie iconic. This quite literally has some of the best line delivery of the 21st century, and I can’t not appreciate that. It’s why I didn’t say Doubt is Meryl’s best portrayal of a villain, but these villainous roles are nothing alike. Meryl portrays facets rather than the roles they play into the narrative. Even Into The Woods and August : Osage County, none of her villain performances are the same, and furthermore I don’t think any of her characters feel the same. I truly admire that about her work now.
1st. Sophie’s Choice (1982), Meryl Streep as Zofia “Sophie” Zawistowski
(Pictured above : Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice)
Won For : Best Actress
Oscar Moment : Her entire performance… wow!
Explanation For Placement : If there were one performance. One definitive Meryl Streep performance that made her the legend she is today. I am telling you, with certainty, it is this one. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve raved about her for 15 pages now, she has a number of iconic performances. Me saying this isn’t discrediting her long career full of brilliant performances, but when I say Sophie’s Choice was a masterclass in acting that could be taught in Film Schools…. I am not exaggerating. I think this has a direct correlation to Meryl becoming a legend today.
The movie itself wasn’t even all that captivating, but when Meryl Streep was on screen, it was impossible to look away. I was shocked the movie wasn’t what I expected in my head, but when you see what Meryl does in this part, it’s clear the movie isn’t iconic because it’s undeniably well written or masterfully made, it’s iconic because Meryl Streep made it so. Stunning work, flawlessly delivered and not just a deserved Oscar win, it is one of the best performances I’ve ever seen.
FINAL THOUGHTS :
A common belief I see is that Meryl Streep’s work started out incredibly strong, but as time went on she got worse and worse and got awarded for name brand. Looking at my ranking, you might think I feel that exact way, but I don’t think her talent just disappeared at all. In her weakest of performances, she still has the same star power she always had from the start of her career. Meryl Streep is just a legend and should be considered one of the best film stars of all time… easily.
Meryl’s career is obviously not over yet, and I imagine she has a few nominations left in her as long as she still is given scripts to perform. I wonder how my ranking could change given the possibility of future roles that compare to her best work, and I wonder what everyone will think of my ranking as it is. I have given it days worth of consideration and have been drafting it as I watched the movies. I think this is finalized but I could read this in a few days or after I rewatch a performance and realize I completely misjudged something. But my final sentiment still remains… she was unbelievably and unjustly snubbed for her work in Mamma Mia!, and that just will never sit right with my spirit.
(Pictured above : Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia!. We will avenge you, Donna!)