Honored on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival, Meryl Streep received a Palme d’Or Honor. Applauded at the dinner that followed, the actress discreetly took the stage at the Claude Debussy theater. Pleasant, she answered questions with humility.
A huge crowd gathered in front of the Palais des Festivals hoping to get a last-minute ticket. Meryl Streep, winner of three Oscars and an absolute icon of cinema, spoke about her “quiet” life away from the cameras, joking about her role as mother to Louisa, Grace, Henry and Mamie her four children.
She expressed her pride in the very recent progress of women in cinema, saluting her French sisters Camille Cottin and Juliette Binoche. Referring to one of her famous roles in Kramer vs. Kramer, she recalled that it was, in her opinion, the beginning of the movement for women in cinema. She made a point of denouncing the precariousness of women in the seventh art, highlighting the progress made since.
When asked about her talent for accents, she confidently replied that she does not speak French, but can adopt tones and tics easily. Meryl Streep had not been to Cannes since 1989, where she received the Best Actress award for Evil Angels.
Her return after so many decades with this Palme d’Or Honor marks a key moment in this edition of the festival.