Meryl Streep’s Unexpected Path to Stardom
Let’s talk about Meryl Streep, the woman who’s universally celebrated as one of America’s greatest actresses. You’d think someone with her talent would’ve always known they were destined for the stage, right? Well, guess what? Meryl actually had other plans. She opened up about this during a Q&A session with Stephen Colbert, benefiting Montclair Film in her home state of New Jersey. Here’s the kicker: she wanted to be a lawyer. Can you believe it? And you know what stopped her? She slept through her LSATs. Yep, that’s right. “I was doing a play called The Father with Rip Torn,” she recalled, “and I went out with the guys afterward and slept through the LSATs!”
From High School Plays to Standing Ovations
Now, Meryl wasn’t exactly a stranger to the stage. Even back in high school, she was involved in theater, and her debut as Marian the Librarian in The Music Man earned her a standing ovation. Imagine that—she was already wowing audiences at such a young age. “I thought, ‘Oh, that’s fun!’” she said, reminiscing about the thrill of performing. But here’s the thing—she didn’t think acting was a viable career path. “I didn’t think it was serious,” she admitted to Stephen. “Nobody I knew in Bernardsville, [NJ], was going to be an actor. I didn’t have that dream that I must go on the stage.”
A Degree in Drama, but Plans for Marriage
After high school, Meryl went on to earn her degree in drama from Vassar College. But here’s the twist—her real goal wasn’t about pursuing acting. Nope. Her plan was to get married and have children. “There was a serious thing where people said, ‘She’s going to get her MRS degree,’” she shared. But then, something shifted. The world changed, and new opportunities emerged. Meryl found herself at a crossroads, and she decided to take a chance on acting. And boy, are we glad she did!
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The Turning Point at Yale School of Drama
After college, Meryl lived in a theater commune in Vermont, but it wasn’t until her third year of graduate studies at the Yale School of Drama that she really started taking acting seriously. Even then, she had doubts. “Some people were never cast, and I was cast over and over in a class of six women, and it made me sick,” she confessed. So, she decided to take the LSATs, thinking, “You’re interested in the environment, you have to do something in the world.” But fate had other plans. Despite missing her chance to become a lawyer, Meryl realized she truly loved acting. “I decided, I really do like acting and maybe it’s stupid, but I’m going to try,” she said. “I’m a curious person, and I’m very interested in finding out more about people. There is no greater job than the one I have to do that. But I stumbled into this!”
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