We are in a suite at the Ritz-Carlton in New York, with us a Hollywood legend known for playing great women, mastering accents, and generally making her mark as the greatest actress on earth. But now it seems that Meryl Streep is enjoying a second life as a musical performer. Having first sung in films like Postcards From the Edge and Ironweed, Streep again wowed critics and audiences alike with her singing in 2008’s hit musical, Mamma Mia. Earlier this year, she displayed her vocal agility in Into the Woods where she pushed her voice “beyond all my expectations.” Now she’s playing hard-rocking singer/guitarist in Ricki and the Flash, directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Jonathan Demme. With a very limited knowledge of Spanish the actress confesses that she would love to learn and is committed to do it in the future. Now 65, Meryl Streep is in the middle of a career renaissance that begun with her Oscar-nominated performance in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and continued with films like Julie and Julia (2009), The Iron Lady (2011), which earned Streep her third Academy Award, and 2013’s August: Osage County.
Streep and her sculptor husband Donald Gummer live in the Tribeca area of New York. Two of their four children are actively pursuing acting careers: daughter Mamie Gummer, 31, (Side Effects) and Grace Gummer, 29, (Margin Call, Frances Ha.)