While collecting her honorary doctorate at Indiana University last week, Meryl Streep talked about the early days of her acting career.
According to US Weekly, the 64-year-old talked about starting out in the acting industry, “I thought I was too ugly to be an actress. Glasses weren’t fabulous then,” the Doubt actress said.
“I think I was probably like every other girl who puts on a princess dress and expects everyone to pay full and total attention. And most of us grow out of that. I was always in plays, but I thought it was vain to be an actress,” Streep continued.
The actress, who won the 2011 Academy Award for Best Actress thanks to her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, also had some wise advice for the graduates listening to her speech.
“For young women, I would say, don’t worry so much about your weight,” said Streep. “Girls spend way too much time thinking about that, and there are better things”.
“For young men, and women, too, what makes you different or weird, that’s your strength. Everyone tries to look a cookie-cutter kind of way and actually the people who look different are the ones who get picked up. I used to hate my nose. Now I don’t. It’s okay”.
It must be said that Meryl is the very definition of a lady.
