Director Once Called Meryl Streep Ugly, And She Hit Back in the Most Miranda Way Possible
This is a prime example of standing out for yourself and doing it graciously.
It's hard to imagine that there was a time when someone could question Meryl Streep 's acting talent, career, and looks.
Looking at the actress today, one would think that her achievements could not be questioned at all.
However, this was not always the case: many years ago, Streep faced the harsh reality of being young and vulnerable in the industry, just like everyone else.
Everyone knows how badly Hollywood can treat young women coming into the business.
They're always subjected to all kinds of abuse and violence, and they're also enormously criticized by the public for not conforming to all the norms that society has.
You have to be very stoic to take rejection after rejection without giving up on your dream. You also have to be confident enough in yourself to sometimes face outright insults from someone who feels entitled to insult you.
This is exactly what happened to Meryl Streep, but she did not let it go without consequences.
On The Graham Norton Show in 2015, the actress shared a story that happened to her while she was auditioning for a role in a King Kong movie directed by Dino De Laurentiis.
She was invited to the audition by the director's son, who was impressed by her acting in one of the plays he saw live. The experience would have been great if Streep hadn't been insulted as soon as she walked into the office.
"I walked in, and his son was sitting there, very excited that he brought in this "new" actress. And the father said to his son in Italian "che brutta," you know, "why do you bring me this ugly thing". Yeah, very sobering," she shared with tears in her eyes.
Hearing that would destroy the self-esteem of any young actress, Meryl Streep used her secret weapon and fired back at the director in the best possible way.
Since he didn't know she spoke Italian, she had the opportunity to surprise him and defend herself with a very sarcastic apology.
The actress said that she could understand him, and was very sorry that she was not beautiful enough... to be in King Kong.
Even though the role ended up going to Jessica Lang, we're sure Streep was more than happy to surprise the director.
Fortunately, this incident did not affect her career, as it continued with several leading roles and nominations for the most prestigious awards.
Source: The Graham Norton Show (https://youtu.be/GW0PMN6VAlg)