Meryl Streep has won the Oscar for Best Leading Actress, her third Academy Award in total and her second Oscar for Best Actress among 14 nominations in that category. (She also has three nominations for Supporting Actress, making her the most nominated actor in history.) It’s somewhat of an upset in the category, as many predictions had Viola Davis taking home the Oscar. Meryl won the BAFTA and Golden Globe this year, and given her storied history with the Academy it wasn’t a total surprise. It’s been 30 years since Meryl won her last Oscar for Best Actress for Sophie’s Choice, and the Academy must have thought she was due again. (Slate had a nice slideshow of all the times that Meryl’s been passed up in this category. She also won Best Supporting Actress in 1979 for Kramer vs. Kramer.) Meryl won this year for her transformative performance as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. You could tell that Meryl was surprised when her name got called, and she gave a speech that was both gracious, meaningful and funny as hell:
When they called my name I had this feeling I could hear half of America going “oh no, oh come on why her again?” you know? But whatever! First I’m going to thank Don, because when you thank your husband at the end of the speech they play ’em out with the music and I want him to know that everything I value most in our lives you’ve given me. [Gets choked up, composes herself] Secondly, my other partner. 37 years ago, my first play in NY City I met the great hairstylist and makeup artist Roy Helland. We worked together pretty continuously… his first film with me was Sophie’s Choice and all the way up until tonight when he won for his wonderful work in the Iron Lady. 30 years later every single film in between.
First I want to thank Roy, because I really understand I’ll never be up here again. I really want to thank all my colleagues, all my friends. I look out here and I see my life before my eyes. My old friends, my new friends and really this is such a great honor, but the thing that counts the most with me are the friendships and the love and the sheer joy we have making movies together. My friends, thank you all of you departed and here for this inexplicably wonderful career. Thank you so much.
Congratulations to Meryl! She hasn’t quite beaten Katherine Hepburn’s record of four Academy Awards, but it’s only a matter of time.
All class.
Totally agree, she is the classiest woman in showbiz these days, IMO.
I absolutely loved her heartfelt thanks to her husband and how grateful she was. It was so sweet, and they look like such a wonderful couple.
I also didn’t know about her personal hairstylist/makeup artist who does all her movies with her… how cool! I didn’t even know that was “allowed”, but I guess when you have clout like Meryl you can have what you want.
A great Oscar moment!
YES! YES! YES! She was so deserving! Bravo Academy!
No groaning here. I was happy to hear Meryl’s name get called out.
While I do feel bad for Viola, I know there have been a few times when Meryl was nominated that she should have won. So I believe Viola’s time will come, sooner rather than later.
I highly doubt it. It seems like black women have a once in a lifetime chance of winning the Oscar for Best Actress, and they would rather give to Halle(can’t act for shiit)Berry, probably since she’s mixed and light, so it’s alright. Best Supporting Oscar, they will give it to us every year. But you can forget about Viola ever winning for best actress.
That’s a very depressing post. 🙁 I hope you’re wrong.
that was my first thought. there aren’t that many great leading roles for women in hollywood and there are even fewer for black actresses.
Halle is an excellent actress. She has actually surprised me with her range.
Damn right. Chances of Viola winning depends on the kind of roles she will be offered, and they are only so many roles written for a black woman. The Academy is great at getting it wrong. Why give Meryl an Oscar for the Iron Lady when she’s been in far better roles and movies previously? It’s like what the Academy did with Scorsese – recognizing him for The Departed while overlooking all his previous works.
This is true. I feel like when Black actresses are nominated the likely-hood of them being nominated again and winning is zilch.
Most of the Oscar voters are white males. If there was no seperation between genders, I’m sure women would win ‘best actor’ perhaps once every 6 years.
It’s not fair and a reason I can’t take these kind of reward shows too seriously.The bias is too obvious.
Do you really think the 6000 academy members all get together and say “Yeah, well we nominated Viola Davis, but of course a black woman will never win best actress, except for Halle Berry because she has light skin”??? Yes, most voters are white males, but Hollywood people are generally known to be super liberal and an overwhelming majority supported Obama. Why would they be fine with a black man running the country but not with a black woman winning best actress? Or is Obama also only alright because he’s mixed like Halle?
The real problem is that there are so little good lead roles for black women (even Viola’s role wasn’t really a lead) and therefore there are almost no possible candidates. That’s why black women barely get nominated in that category which of course makes a win very difficult. I totally agree that that should change, but please stop with the conspiracy theories-and stop blaming the whole Hollywood crowd for the doings of a few studio executives who decide what scripts are chosen.
Mo’nique won just a few years ago, too, which does little to redress the effective segregation of decades of the Academy Awards, but rather puts paid to the theory that African American women are and always will be shut out. Plusi would like to think that it’s going to continue to improve with women of all ages and colors getting better and more meaningful roles.
I gotta say I agree with you on this.
Sadly, I couldn’t agree with you more :/. And for those who are saying that Viola has plenty of time and chances to still win and Oscar, I’ll have to respectfully disagree. There are plenty of opportunities for Meryl to still win an Oscar, of course, but as an black actress it’s a tough market. It is possible, of course, but it’s going to be so much tougher for her than it would be for a white actress.
@ anjessa
it doesnt have to be a conspiracy, its an actual train of thought. Lets be honest. If Alan Keyes were a democrat with the same ideals as Obama and ran in 2008, do you think he would have won? It is in the nature of a lot of people (Blacks included) to discount darker skin tones. no conspiracy there.
I’m sorry, maybe I didn’t understand your argument, but are you actually saying you believe Obama wouldn’t have won if he had been fully black and not mixed?
no i didnt say it was because he was mixed, i said it was because he was lighter skinned. black is black no matter what you parents are, and you are treated as such, ask generations of biracial children. what i am saying is in ALMOST every culture, the fairer skinned are more accepted and appreciated. Look at Latino countries, look at Black America. I believe its even an issue in Asian countries. itd be nice to say that the majority of America is now, in 2012, colorblind, but I think its only true on a very shallow level.
i liked how she thanked her husband first. i let a little happy scream when she won, i let a little sad scream when gary lost. 🙁 but jean was good so its ok
Damn Viola deserved that Oscar!
There are no words to describe how much I admire and love this woman and all she represents <3
Very unexpected, I was shocked. She’s the best though but they could’ve given it to a role in a much better film than the Iron Lady.
Hepburn played a lot of spinsters in the end of her career, Streep has better options now. But like Streep, she could do anything. In the end they aren’t comparable and shouldn’t be either for me since women should just be happy that those women made it so far in film and get/got so many accolades. Also, Hepburn blasted Streep and after all those prizes, they both proved their worth so I don’t want to go with the Streep-Hepburn battle of the best. They are both the best imho.
Katherine Hepburn didn’t like Meryl Streep? I didn’t know that. Agree with you, though, that picking a “best ever” is subjective and kind of counter-productive. They are both amazing actresses in their own right, and I was glad (and pleasantly surprised) to see Meryl win again.
Katherine Hepburn is said to have said about Meryl “Click, click, click,” referring to the wheels turning inside Streep’s head.
I guess she thought she was too technical or something? Wonder what she would say about Meryl’s acting now.
I loved her speech. I’m so happy she won.
I loved it! She was great, so heartfelt.
I was able to watch a bunch of the nominated movies this year, especially on the flight from London.
I wish Warhorse had won. I saw Hugo, Moneyball, and Iron Lady as well.
All great movies and performances. Bravo Meryl-so classy and funny.
She wore a gold dress the last time she won, too. Her lucky Oscar colour!
I love Meryl, but hate the way she dresses. Do not like the dress or the earrings.
Yeah it wasn’t great, but when I think of Meryl Streep I don’t think “gorgeous fashion-plate bombshell”, I think “ridiculously talented artist”. I know they’re supposed to dress up for the Oscars, but you can tell who is dressing up bc they have to and who really spends 6 months planning their entire outfit. I don’t think Meryl fits in the latter category.
I noticed that when I saw the clip of her winning for Sophie’s Choice last night!
I wanted Viola to win so badly!
So glad she won! She was phenomenal and she hasn’t won since the year I was born! I’m not a fan of the help, as I’ve said before. Viola is talented and hopefully, she will win an Oscar for something much better.
And the coke wizard is there in the last photo!
I didn’t see Lindsay Lohan anywhere in that picture!
I dont particularly like her. Is it not good enough that she won 2 Oscars. Give it to someone who hasnt won one yet. Ugh
That was one of the least boring Oscar telecasts ever!
It was really smart to have many of the presenter pairs do a couple of awards each. The performance pieces were interesting and tasteful. Esperanza Spalding was marvellous & her performance prevented the heinous applause dead-people-popularity-meter.
Of the presenters, Goopy was the lamest, and Emma Stone was a comedienne genius. Having Jennifer Lopez in her it-takes-a-lot-of-money-to-look-this-cheap dress deliver the “lady” line wins the unintentional hilarity award.
The “dead-people-popularity-meter” is actually one of my favorite parts of the Oscars because it is so macabre! This is the last popularity contest for these folks on Earth. It also shows that hardly anyone acknowledges the crew, such as make-up artists and sound engineers, even in death, with their applause; most of the applause goes to the big names. It is a truly democratic representation of what Hollywood values: the faces on film instead of the scads of folks who work behind the scenes.
That said, I clap for everyone at home and actually thought this “In Memoriam” was the classiest I had seen in all my years of Oscars-viewing because of the lack of applause, and I appreciated it.
Spalding’s voice is amazing. It was beautiful, clear, and perfect for the “in memoriam” segment of the show.
The quick pace was nice, but I thought the show as a whole was not very good. Billy Crystal was totally lame. Not one laugh. Not one. Kodak is in bankruptcy…yuck yuck yuck. Brad and Angelina have lots of kids…whoop whoop. Ugh.
Hail to the Queen! My favorite actress, extraordinary talented, intelligent, great sense of humor and always a class act. Wasn’t she just gorgeous when she was young and still looks amazing?
I love that Meryl and Oprah were wearing gold. Oprah must have been steaming mad that she was not the only one to wear that color.
Yay for Meryl! I wanted Viola to win but it is a well earned Oscar.
Love Meryl Streep, but I really really really really really really really wanted Viola Davis to win.
I wanted Viola to win. Happy for Meryl, but this wasn’t her best performance. If anything, she should have won for Doubt. This was Viola’s year & I doubt she’ll get the chance to win again. Not as if there are an abundance of outstanding, well-written roles for black women out there.
So true!
Omg loved her in Doubt!! She was soo good I had to tell myself a few times it was a movie..
Aw that was well deserved (even though I was a teensy bit sad for Viola). Meryl is ALL class.
Usually I love it when Meryl wins, but this time, just this once, I hoped for Viola.
Hope producers realize the starpower of Viola and will give her the great roles she deserves. News flash for them, movie goers don’t just want to see 20-45 year old white guys with standard female appendix on screen. We want to see other stories too.
What always surprises me is when a great actress, wins with a bad movie.
I really did not like “The Iron Lady”.
At all.
Meryl goes home with a win. Finally. After 30 years.
Can’t begrudge her the Oscar. She is a fabulous actress. Even in awful movies.
(I liked her in “Death becomes Her” and that movie with Rosanne Barr!)
Heh, I really liked “Death Becomes Her”! Didn’t realize “The Iron Lady” was a Weinstein film – and yes, he has quite the Oscar record. Wonder how he does it? Bet you there’s an interesting tell-all book (or film) in there somewhere.
Re-watched Streep in Devil Wears Prada yesterday. She is so good that I wanted to go through the screen to slap the true b*tch that she portrayed.
I, too, love Death Becomes Her and whatever that movie was with Roseanne Barr and Ed Begley, Jr. She was so funny.
Talented woman and great speech.
I LOVED her as Anna Wintour. She nailed that one. Bitch Queen!
The movie with Roseanne Barr was “She-Devil”, and it was the first Meryl Streep movie I ever saw as a child, and I have loved Meryl Streep since then.
Congrats to her, a true artist who has worked hard at her craft and has always churned out great performances, no matter the material.
I don’t understand what you mean by “finally” winning the Oscar? She won best actress for Sophie’s Choice. Did you mean because she hadn’t won in 30 years? I’m sorry, I’m just confused.
Harvey stole it AGAIN! I don’t know how he owns them but that’s now a fact. He took 8 Oscars with several movies in the most important part.
Oscars is not worth and that is a shame.
Have a nice night everybody.
Harvey realised that he couldn’t compete with a studio marketing budget, so he used/s the oscars as his marketing tool. Getting his films nominated in whatever category imediately raises their profile in ways that would have required serious money if he had to buy conventional marketing worldwide spots. And it gives him extra free publicity.
He doesn’t really do the studio style conventional marketing. HAve you ever seen a HArvey film in the standard studio slots eg summer or spring? He only releases in Autumn, winter leading up to the oscars. It smart. The studios get pissed every year, the Academy threatens to ban him yadayadayada but you know what? the smaller independents are using his template to raise their own profile.
Sadly I think this was Viola’s last shot at an oscar because their isn’t that many good roles for women of color in hollywood as it is. This role is proof of that she had to play a maid to get recognition. Oh well
I think Viola will be back. Nobody treats her like a “woman of color”. She is now recognized as a very talented actress and her momentum will keep growing. I admire her a lot.
I think this was her second Academy nomination. IINM, the other one was for “Doubt” (w/ Meryl). She’ll be back.
I hope yall are right
I was pleased for Streep but felt bad for Viola. Figure I would have felt worse for Streep if she’d lost.
I’m going to believe that Viola’s time will come. There never used to be any good roles for women over 40. It’s taken a while but the talent has finally dragged the writers along with them. I’m hoping the same will be true for the likes of Davis. The world now knows her talent. She should be getting the pick of the roles and more will come. To ignore her would be stupid even for white male dominated Hollywood.
she’s good of course, but viola should have won to be completely honest. maybe they didn’t want both black nominees to win. or maybe it’s the fact that anybody who attempts to have a british accent will be rewarded. no matter how bad it is (i.e. dame poop-i mean goop’s in that awful shakespeare movie) well at least rooney mara couldn’t buy this one and that’s one thing i was happy about. how bad was that performance?
I don’t believe Meryl will never be up there again. I’ve seen some great movies with women in the last years of their lives. Remember Driving Miss Daisy? Wasn’t it Jessica Tandy? Didn’t she get an award for that role? Plus Meryl will definitely get a lifetime achievement award before her days are over. So I’m betting she be up there again. Anyone want to take that bet?
I’m kind of glad Meryl won over Viola. Honestly, Viola’s role wasn’t big enough to be Best Actress. It was more Best Supporting Actress. In my opinion, there wasn’t any one actress in The Help who carried it. It truly was an ensemble. Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain…they had nearly equal screentime, overall.
i hated The Help. I liked the book much better than the movie. Viola and Octavia’s performances were the only thing that kept me through the movie. When Medgar Evers gets shot and Viola get’s kicked off the bus but has no idea why and is running through town to get to her place. And she ends up at Minnies??? Dude that scene damn near broke my heart and I just got so scared. Emma Stone’s character i could care less for. Jessica’s character’s is far more developed in the book than in that movie. don’t even get me started on the other female leads. god and their accents yuck. It really was Octavia and Viola that carried that film.
Meryl, Miss Bette Davis is happy tonight:)
I am happy with Streep’s win. I have grown to really like her and appreciate her talents over the years. I am happy that Octavia won also.
Woooooo, I’ve just waken up and this is a wonderful news. XD I’m a little sad for Viola (who I think should have won for Supporting Actress for Doubt, this role wasn’t the best for her), but I’m so PUMPED for Meryl and her win!
Also, maybe mine is an unpopular opinion, but I think that Meryl Streep is a far better actress than Katharine Hepburn: Hepburn was really good with strong women, but…that’s it, she never blow me much and was very “mannered”, and I’ve seen a good portion of her movies. Meryl had given so many strong and different performances over the years, and is probably the best actress of our days – much to Hepburn who said that she was too “calculated”.
Not an unpopular opinion to me. Hepburn played Hepburn in every movie she made. Meryl should have blown away her record years ago! Viola will have her chance again.
The lady smiling in the background on the first pic, looks slightly deranged.
This is too much. She is not all that. The new generation of actresses is certainly a problem both in the beauty department as well as the talent department.
Nevertheless, Meryl plays the Hollywood game well. Takes on parts for Oscar purposes, has intense PR campaigns and sadly, that what has become of the Oscars.
IF you play it right, and have an expensive PR work, this is what you get.
Oh, come on. If that was true, George Clooney would have won. Why else would he have allowed cameras into his house for an ‘intimate’ look at his home. The timing was just a bit suspect. HE wanted the Oscar more than anyone. I don’t think Meryl Streep did much campaigning at all.
She was amazing in The Iron Lady. It was a disappointing movie but her acting was incredible. What i can’t believe is that she has ONLY won 3. She acts circles around them all. Especially Gweneth. I have not watched an Oscar since Gwenny won for that stupid Shakespear movie. That was nepotism at it’s finest.
I’m surprised that so many people are surprised. If I’m not mistaken Meryl won all of the major awards except for SAG. I think because it was the last awards show and Viola was a fan favorite people forgot that.
The film itself was not bad, tohugh duifferent from what people were expecting from a MT biopic but Streep’s performance in it was terrific. Truly moving. I had tears in my eyes at the end. She deserves this.
I just love Meryl. She was amazing in Doubt. I would go to the theater to watch her read the phone book. Amazing actress.
She is what real actors should all be like.
I love Meryl – haven’t seen her film yet, but I’m sure she was great in it, obviously.
I’m a little bummed Viola didn’t get it though, I thought her performance was amazing and moving. I’m happy she got nominated though and hope it will help her get bigger and better roles. She’s a fantastic actress.
As much as I love Meryl Streep, I really believed Viola should have won. But then again, it doesn’t matter what I think . Oh well. Still, Viola definitly needs to win an Oscar and soon.
But then again, a part of me knew that they were not going to give two oscars to two black women in one night.
I can never think it’s a bad thing when Meryl Streep wins the Best Actress Oscar, but she’s deserved it more for better roles, better movies. She’s amazing in anything.
I wouldn’t have minded if Glenn Close won it.
I have to admit that I was a little surprised that Meryl Streep won.I thought for sure it would have been Viola Davis, but in no way am I disappointed in who did win.
I LOVE this woman. Great actress too.
Very happy! I knew she was gonna win! I cant believe she reads blogs and listens to all the bullshit…..go meryl and do NOT dare to think that you re not gonna stand there again,cause you will. We love you!