Nearing 60, Streep Trumps Hollywood's Old Boys

The anti-diva, a character actress at heart, is happy to play strong women
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 25, 2009 1:18 PM CST

Meryl Streep wasn't surprised when Mamma Mia! took the international box office by storm, and remained equally unfazed at the amazement of execs who hadn't expected the ABBA musical to succeed. The "fellas" who decide what films get made, Streep tells the Independent, "usually make those decisions based on what they want to see, or what they wanted to see when they were 14."

The 59-year-old Streep is happy to have left behind the "conventional" parts offered to young women in favor of character roles and tough, high-powered ladies. But she sees mainly old-boys' networks in the real world. "The film industry. The Senate. The House of Representatives. The top echelons of business. What isn't?"
(More Meryl Streep stories.)

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