Meryl Streep returns to Cannes in triumph after “frightening” first visit

Despite being the Queen of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Meryl Streep was terrified when she first attended the storied French Film event.

The three-time Oscar-winner was a vision of elegance when she walked the red carpet at the Festival de Palais on Tuesday night, before accepting an Honorary Palme d’Or from Juliette Binoche.

However, during a conversation at Cannes’ Théâtre Debussy on Wednesday, she admitted finding Cannes a frightening experience when first attending back in 1989, when she won Best Actress for A Cry in the Dark, because she was treated like a “rockstar”.

“When I came to Cannes the first time they said, ‘You will need nine bodyguards,’ and I said, ‘I don’t need nine bodyguards. I don’t have a bodyguard,’” Meryl explained, before adding, “I needed maybe a dozen. Because in the olden days, there wasn’t the same security…it was insane.

“The moment of getting the prize – I don’t think I remember it as I was afraid,” the 74-year-old reminisced. “Because I don’t know…I’m not a rockstar.”

In fact, Streep revealed that she was less spooked by the wildlife she encountered while filming Out of Africa with Robert Redford than she was by her first Cannes.

The star outlined how she kept filming a scene while a “bug as big as my hand” crawled up her back before discussing how, after her hair and makeup artist Roy Hellund gave Redford tuition, his hairwashing skills put her at ease amid the presence of dangerous hippos.

“Redford took the lesson and got into it. By take five, I was so in love,” she gushed.“It’s a sex scene in a way, because it’s so intimate. We’ve seen so many scenes of people f**king, but we don’t see that loving touch, that care.

“It was gorgeous, I didn’t want it to end that day,” she concluded. “Even despite the hippos.”

That was part of a wide-ranging discussion in which Streep described how she approached some of her most famous films, including Kramer vs Kramer, The Deer Hunter, Sophie’s Choice, The Iron Lady and many more.

While holding court, the Hollywood legend also touched on equal pay, Time’s Up and how a new generation of female stars now have much more power in Hollywood.

“The biggest stars in the world are women right now,” she gushed. “It’s a lot different to how I started.”

After explaining how she’s in awe of actress-producers like Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Natalie Portman, Streep went on to discuss the Time’s Up movement’s efforts to end sexual harassment in Hollywood.

“It did change things and not just Hollywood,” Streep continued. “The same shenanigans still go on but they’re a little bit afraid. In places, it maybe went overboard. But it also identified real abuse.”

As times have changed, so has Streep’s attitude to Cannes, and though she is now even more revered than during her “rockstar” 1989 visit.

This time she admitted to enjoying her second experience so much, she was a little “hungover” having had such a great time being honoured the night before.

Mark Worgan

Read more reviews from our Cannes Film Festival 2024 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Cannes Film Festival website here.