21-Gong Salute!

Meryl Streep has earned a record-breaking number of Oscar nominations and shows no sign of slowing down her glittering career, with a juicy TV role up next

- Kirstin Buick

A NEWSPAPER publisher who helped bring the US government to its knees.

The mother of an abusive husband who wants to find out what happened to her dead son.

Two very different characters, one bound for the big screen, the other for the small. And who do you call when you want an actress who can pull anything out of the bag? Meryl Streep, that’s who.

There’s just no stopping the 68-yearold doyenne of the entertainment world who’s just broken her own record by earning her 21st Oscar nomination.

With the nod for her portrayal of Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham in the acclaimed movie The Post, Meryl is up for her third best actress statuette and her fourth Oscar overall.

The only actress to have won four Academy Awards is the legendary Katharine Hepburn. And Meryl is head and shoulders above the rest of the pack in terms of Oscar nominations – nine ahead of Katharine and Jack Nicholson, who are tied in second place with 12 each.

Eloquent as ever, the mother of four said she was “honoured beyond measure” to have been recognised “for a film I love, a film that stands in defence of press freedom and inclusion of women’s voices in the movement of history”.

Meryl was part of the group of Hollywood women who made history at this year’s Golden Globes, all wearing black as part of the #TimesUp campaign.

The #TimesUp and #MeToo movements were sparked by the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal (YOU, 26 October 2017) – and as someone who worked closely with Weinstein, Meryl was called out by actress Rose McGowan, one of his original accusers, for not having spoken up against him.

“You’ll accept a fake award breathlessly and affect no real change,” Rose tweeted of “actresses like Meryl. I despise your hypocrisy.”