Meryl Streep Bestowed with Honorary Palme d’Or at The 77th Edition of Cannes Film Festival
Legendary actress Meryl Streep receives honorary Palme d'Or at 77th Cannes Film Festival. Stars gather to celebrate her iconic career with a moving ceremony. Read about Streep's emotional speech and the impact she's had on cinema.
May 14th marked the commencement of the 77th edition of the Grand Cannes Film Festival in the French Riviera. Legendary actress Meryl Streep was bestowed with the coveted Palme d’Or.
Many stars graced the red carpet and went into the opulent Grand Theatre Lumiere to honour the American actress.
The crowd gave the actress a two minute long standing ovation during Tuesday’s opening ceremony while the actress appeared literally stunned by the attention. A montage was played that showcased some of Streep’s most iconic acting scenes. French actress Juliette Binoche got the opportunity to do the honours of presenting Meryl Streep with the Palme d’Or.
Juliette expressed, “When I see you on the screen, I don’t see you … Where does it come from? Were you born like this? I don’t know, but there’s a believer in you; a believer that allows me to believe.” An emotional Juliette described Streep as an international treasure who changed the way we look at cinema.
On stage, Meryl joked with the audience when she said, “I'm just so grateful that you haven't gotten sick of my face.”
After Meryl saw the montage dedicated to her long and fruitful career in Hollywood, she compared it to “looking out the window of a bullet train, watching my youth fly into my middle age, right onto where I am standing on this stage tonight. So many faces and so many places that I remember.”
She expressed gratitude to Cannes for welcoming her back after thirty five years. Reminiscing about her last experience at Cannes she expressed, “I was already a mother of three, I was about to turn 40 and I thought that my career was over.”
She then continued, “That was not an unrealistic expectation for actresses at that time. And the only reason that I’m here tonight and that it continued is because of the very gifted artists with whom I’ve worked, including Madame La President (Greta Gerwig).”
The song ‘Dancing Queen’ from Meryl Streep’s romantic musical drama ‘Mamma Mia’ played in the background as she received the Palme d’Or.