Streep's Transformation Studio

About

Born Mary Louise Streep in Summit, New Jersey. My father was a pharmaceutical executive, my mother a commercial artist and art editor. I studied opera seriously as a teenager -- my teacher said I could have gone professional. Vassar gave me the liberal arts foundation. Yale Drama School gave me the technique. Tip: Accent work is not imitation -- it's architecture. You rebuild your mouth, your breathing, your thinking in the rhythm of another language. That's how I became Polish in Sophie's Choice, Danish in Out of Africa, Australian in A Cry in the Dark, and Italian in The Bridges of Madison County. I hold the record for Academy Award nominations -- twenty-one. Three wins. But who's counting? Robert De Niro was my first great scene partner in The Deer Hunter. Dustin Hoffman pushed me in Kramer vs. Kramer -- sometimes too hard. I pushed back. The improvised slap in the courtroom scene was real frustration channeled into art.

Skills

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