Meryl Streep has suffered at the classic hands of Hollywood during her career. But how many of us know just how hard it was to get a start 45 years ago in the movies? It made us smile knowing her success since.
Rumour has it this is a picture of the young star in her earliest days of rejection.
“This was me on my way home from an audition for King Kong where I was told I was too “ugly” for the part. This was a pivotal moment for me. This one rogue opinion could derail my dreams of becoming an actress or force me to pull myself up by the boot straps and believe in myself. I took a deep breath and said ‘I’m sorry you think I’m too ugly for your film but you’re just one opinion in a sea of thousands and I’m off to find a kinder tide.’
Today I have 18 Academy Awards.”
Meryl Streep has been nominated for 19 Academy Awards and 29 Golden Globes.
She auditioned for King Kong with producer Dino De Laurentiis in 1976. His son had seen a then-unknown Meryl in a play and brought her in. Streep, who understood Italian, heard Dino speaking to his son at the time to ask him, “Why do you bring me this ugly thing?”
“Very sobering” she said. Then she says she responded with, “I’m sorry I’m not beautiful enough to be in King Kong.”
She laughs about it now, as do we all but she also wants people to remember how tough it was. “Young actors should take solace” knowing that there was a time where even a legendary actress had a bad audition.
Can you believe this was ever the case?