Meryl Streep has won a plethora of accolades as an actress. So, how does she stay so humble? Thanks to her kids.
Meryl Streep has motherhood down pat, whether it's in reel life or real life. While we've seen her outstanding performances on screen, it seems that she's no less of an amazing mother off-screen too. And the fact that despite being such a famous, highly sought-out, award-winning actress, she's still pretty grounded.
The septuagenarian says this is her secret to keeping her feet solidly on the floor — having children. In her case, three daughters and a son. According to The Telegraph, she said it is “such a good thing” for film stars to be put in their place by their brutally honest offspring. "It's so humbling and such a good thing if you're a big movie star to have children," she told the news outlet.
She is married to sculptor Don Gummer and the couple have four children together which begged the question — how did the actress manage to raise four kids while maintaining a brilliant career? Talking to Working Mother, Meryl said, "There are lots of women who have done just as much with fewer advantages than I've enjoyed. I will always admit that I was lucky that I married a good man, because that made it so much easier to be able to work, even though I would take my children on the set with me when they were very young."
"I was also careful to choose films that didn't take me away from my family for more than two weeks at a time because I missed them terribly and I would be miserable without them. But unless you're doing films back to back, which I never did, you're often spending much more time with your children than you would otherwise if you worked in an office and only had two weeks' vacation every year," she added.
A hands-on mother, Meryl freely admitted to Good Housekeeping, "Lecturing is what I do with my children, not listening. Lecturing, and ordering out." "Motherhood, marriage, it's a balancing act," she continued. "Especially when you have a job that you consider rewarding. It's a challenge but the best kind of challenge."
And her second daughter Mamie Gummer, who is following in her mother's footsteps, is glad that her mom remained a working one. “But I’m so grateful that my mum is fulfilled by what she does. I imagine it’s hard for women – and men – who have to give up what they love. I admire my parents enormously. They both do what they love and it makes them happy – and makes for a happy home," she told The Telegraph.
It must've been tough though. When asked by the Washington Post in 1998 what is harder, acting or mothering, the Oscar-winning actress replied with no hesitation. "Mothering. Definitely," she said during a conversation on the eve of the premiere of her widely lauded film, One True Thing. "Acting -- that's praise, money, fulfillment. Mothering -- they don't even say, 'Thank you.' They don't even clear the table unless you say, 'Excuuuse me . . . ' Real life, there's no comparison to acting. I can't really call acting work, since it's secretly so fun. Even the difficult things; it's satisfying to do the difficult things well. Acting isn't like real life. Life is about not being sure: Is this the right school for this kid? All those uncertainties."
For Meryl, as mentioned before, family came first. "I need to know there is a reason to take time out from the very intricate and exhausting and deeply interesting job of being with my kids and with my husband. To take four months and do a movie, it has to be worth it."
And it seems like it did her well when it came to her career and managing family life. We can't wait to see her on the big screen again.
References:
https://www.workingmother.com/celeb-mom-qa-meryl-streep#page-2
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/ricki-and-the-flash/mamie-gummer-interview-ricki-and-the-flash/
