13Who Is The Highest Paid Actress in Hollywood?

Oh, you guys, I’m sorry. When I asked the question of “who is the highest paid actress in Hollywood?” and then put a picture of Meryl Streep right up there at the top, that made it look like Meryl is the highest paid actress, didn’t it? I’m sorry, but it’s just not true. Meryl is on the list, but she’s not at the top. She deserves to be at the top, but she’s not.

Before I let you know the richiest rich lady in Hollywood, let me just show you the top ten list, all right? I’ll go ahead and tack on the amount of money they made in the past year, just so you can cry while you balance your checkbook like I do.

10. Jennifer Aniston – $11 million
9. Kristen Wiig – $12 million
8. Meryl Streep – $12 million
7. Sarah Jessica Parker – $15 million
6. Julia Roberts – $16 million
5. Charlize Theron – $18 million
4. Angelina Jolie – $20 million
3. Sandra Bullock – $25 million
2. Cameron Diaz – $34 million

Ok, but who do you think landed in the number one spot? Who do you think made nearly three times as much as the beloved Meryl Streep? Who do you think made a few million dollars more than Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston combined?

1. Kristen Stewart – $34.5 million

Yes, thanks to them Twilight movies and Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart is the top-earning actress in all of Hollywood. Does anyone else feel physically ill?

June 21, 2012 at 4:30 am by Emily

2Meryl Streep Did an Interview, Remains Flawless in Our Eyes

I know how much everybody just loves Meryl Streep, so when I saw that she did an interview with South Africa’s Fairlady, I positively had to share. You want to talk about one of the classiest, most talented ladies on the celebrity block, you’ve got it right here. And naturally beautiful? Jeez, for days.

On the lack of cinematic diversity for female actresses:

“There aren’t that many movies around, available. There aren’t that many movies written that I could do. There aren’t a lot of serious movies. That’s all right. I like comedies, too.”

On playing Margaret Thatcher in ‘The Iron Lady’:

“There is no part like this because there’s no woman like this. I’m going to turn that down because I don’t like her politics? My God. Part of what interested me about this whole thing was seeing why we are so uncomfortable on a certain level with women leaders and with their male partners feeling diminished. It’s an interesting thing for us to contemplate.”

On wanting to win awards for her performances:

“How can you be in this business and not? It’s sort of a non-starter, that conversation. I’m proud of [Iron Lady]. I want people to see it. I especially want women to go out on the first weekend and see it… You have to scramble so hard to make a movie about women.”

Oh her husband’s enjoyment of her ‘Iron Lady’ performance:

“My husband loved it. He’s the last person I thought would be drawn to it. But he said it’s not a political movie, it’s an existential movie. He got it. That made me really happy, that my husband and son wanted to see it a second time.”

So, OK. Kill me already, but I haven’t seen The Iron Lady. Is it really that much of a must-see, or is it an artsty-fartsy take on a movie that would bore me to tears anyway? Have many of you guys seen the film, and I’m just a dead-headed schlep who thinks independent films like A Love Song for Bobby Long are the bee’s knees, or do you, like me, think that The Iron Lady could possibly have seemed like a powdery wig-type thing? I mean, I’m sure it’s probably f-cking awesome, considering it won awards and what not, but let’s be real for a second, OK?: it’s probably no Death Becomes Her, right? Yes?

March 28, 2012 at 2:30 pm by Sarah

3Meryl Streep: Still The Classiest

Over a year ago, I made the statement that Meryl Streep can outclass the whole entire world. Today, I stand by my opinion firmly, and if there was any way to state that Meryl Streep is even more classy than that, then I would do so in a heartbeat.

See, Meryl won the Oscar for Best Actress on Sunday night. She worked hard, she showcased her characteristic talent and grace, and she won. I’m not saying that she deserved it more or less than anyone else who was nominated, I’m just saying that she deserved it. I mean, she’s Meryl Streep. She deserves everything. But the point is that she completed the entire process on Sunday night at the Oscars, right? She worked, she got recognition for her work, and that was that.

OR WAS IT?

Meryl Streep has donated $10,000 to a charter school in the struggling Rhode Island city of Central Falls after a plug from fellow actress and hometown favorite Viola Davis.

Angelo Garcia, founder and director of the Segue Institute for Learning, says the check from Streep’s Silver Mountain Foundation for the Arts arrived Monday. A note said it was on behalf of actress Davis, who grew up in Central Falls.

Both Davis and Streep were nominated for the best actress Oscar this year, with Streep winning the award on Sunday night.

The Segue Institute has more than 200 students in grades six through eight.

Garcia, who grew up with Davis, says the school is trying to raise money to buy the building it’s in or find a new location.

How unbelievably beautiful, right? Whether or not Viola Davis was the mystery actress who had to go have a good cry in the bathroom with a girlfriend over how unfair all that Oscars bullshit is, Meryl still made the effort to make such an incredibly nice gesture. I’m thinking that Meryl realized how much so many people were rooting for Viola (and judging by her acceptance speech, that’s certainly the case) and wanted to recognize Viola’s work in a way that truly mattered. Does that makes sense? I don’t know, I’m not even going to pretend that I’m on the same level as Meryl Streep, I’m just wingin’ it over here.

But still, regardless of the reason behind Meryl’s actions … what amazingly wonderful actions they were, huh?

February 29, 2012 at 10:30 am by Emily

2Quotables: Meryl Streep (as Margaret Thatcher) Does the Cover of ‘Newsweek’

“It always really bothers me when people imagine that characters that don’t look like you, or have the same accent as you do, are far from you. The great actress Sybil Thorndike said ‘I think we all have the germ of every other person inside of us.’ And I think we do.”

—Meryl Streep on, uh, the universality of humankind, I guess, to 60 Minutes

Look. Meryl Streep can do anything. No one disputes it. I’m sure that her characterization of Margaret Thatcher in the upcoming The Iron Lady—not her impersonation, but her actual acting—will move me. And in turn, I’ll be, uh, moved by Margaret Thatcher’s own humanity.

In fact, I’m sure Meryl will be able to convince me that she inhabits every fiber of Margaret Thatcher’s being. She convinced me she really was Julia Child, and she will convince as Margaret Thatcher. (Hell, Emily is already convinced.)

But gosh damn it, this person? This cartoon? On the cover of Newsweek? This person does not look anything like Margaret Thatcher. At all. (Emily! No! No, no no!) I mean, I do see what they were doing with the makeup; I do. And it’s, um.

Well, it just looks like Meryl with false teeth. That’s basically all.

Like, the character makeup itself is really subtle—because it shouldn’t be over-the-top—but then it’s just like, OH. Suddenly, Meryl with fake teeth. Those teeth don’t look real; they look ridiculous.

I’m impressed with the “tired eye” makeup, however. Also, the eyebrows. The lunch lady hair, I can take or leave.

BONUS QUOTABLE. Meryl weighs in on playing Margaret Thatcher in a sidebar in the latest issue of Newsweek:

“She was canny about the fact that in order to be taken seriously, she wasn’t able to show certain emotions because she was a woman. Churchill could cry over everything, but if she cried it meant something else; it meant she wasn’t fit to be leader.”

December 19, 2011 at 4:30 pm by Jenn

1How Do We Feel About Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher?

Way back in February, I showed you guys a side-by-side comparison of Meryl Streep and Margaret Thatcher so you could decide if Meryl could pull off the role in the Thatcher biopic, The Iron Lady. Well, that was then, and this is now, and now we have an actual trailer to judge. What do you think?

To be honest, I wasn’t overly familiar with Margaret Thatcher’s mannerisms and vocal patterns until about ten minutes ago when I hit up the YouTube for research, but I was, as always, confident that Meryl Streep could astound, and I was right. If she wanted to, Meryl could conquer the world, of course she could conquer a portrayal of a prime minister.

You guys think she conquered, right?

July 7, 2011 at 3:30 pm by Emily

5Love It or Leave It: Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher

In case you didn’t know, the consistently perfect Meryl Streep is currently working on a film called The Iron Lady, a Margaret Thatcher biopic.  The photo of Meryl above is the first promotional photo released for the film – what do we think?

Of course, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter what we think.  The reality is that Meryl is going to do a beautiful job in this film (despite the Thatcher family’s worries that it will be “some Left-wing fantasy”), get nominated for an Oscar and probably win it (seriously, it would be her 17th nomination, and let’s not pretend that she didn’t deserve every one of them), and then say something with grace and respect that will make the Thatcher family shuffle their feet and hang their heads and mumble some apologies like tactfully scolded children – sort of like she did with the statement she released to go along with the promotional photo:

“The prospect of exploring the swathe cut through history by this remarkable woman is a daunting and exciting challenge. I am trying to approach the role with as much zeal, fervour and attention to detail as the real Lady Thatcher possesses – I can only hope my stamina will begin to approach her own.”

And again, in case you didn’t know?  Meryl Streep can outclass the whole entire world.

Photo via Pop Eater

February 8, 2011 at 11:30 am by Emily