When I sat down to think about a woman who exemplifies the meaning of the New 10 for this month�s newsletter, one person kept leaping out at me. I resisted her at first, because she seemed like such an obvious choice. This is a woman who has won so many awards and accolades; she hardly needs another honor at this point in her long and illustrious life! She�s rich, she�s famous, she likely has everything a person could ever want.
And yet, every time I see Meryl Streep, I know � not only is she the �greatest actress of her generation,� she is also the perfect example of a New 10. Which is probably why her name seems so obvious. Think about it. This is a woman who, when you look at her, might prompt an exclamation of �I can�t believe she�s 60!� But then, on the other hand, she is exactly what a 60-year-old woman can be � and is in many cases � in this day and age. She�s beautiful, but not surgically altered. Comfortable with her body, with her age, with herself.
I love watching her act � the way she throws herself into every character really amazes me. But I have to admit, my favorite Meryl Streep movies aren�t the ones where she masters a really difficult accent, or goes back to a long ago time. I really like when she plays a modern, contemporary, �normal� woman. Maybe because I so enjoy seeing the woman she appears to be in real life.
I�ve been watching Ms. Streep make the rounds of the late night talk shows promoting her latest movie, �Julie and Julia.� Looking at women and evaluating them is a large part of what I do. I�m not normally swayed by celebrity � I look for something far deeper than �star quality� in a New 10. And despite all that, I can�t get over how impressed I was with Meryl Streep.
I really enjoyed watching her interviews, because unlike so many celebrities who go on these shows just to promote their movie or their project or tell their funny story, she really seemed to enjoy the process of being interviewed. She actually seemed to enjoy interacting with people, sharing a moment with whoever she was talking to. She seemed to care about what they had to say, about having a real conversation, about being � for lack of a better term � a real human being.
I loved watching her laugh, which was often. I could see that it was real. Her eyes almost teared up. Her face turned red. She doubled over. She seems to be a woman who really enjoys her life and making the most of every moment.
So, as clich� is at may be, I am proud to name Meryl Streep as my New 10 of the Month. As celebrities go, she is one famous face who truly inspires me.
New 10 of the Month Actress Meryl Streep
Labels: Actress