After winning an Oscar for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, Meryl Streep is speaking out in remembrance of the late British Prime Minister.
Although they hardly interacted, the actress says she admires Thatcher and the immeasurable impact she had on role of women in politics:
“Margaret Thatcher was a pioneer, willingly or unwillingly, for the role of women in politics. It is hard to imagine a part of our current history that has not been affected by measures she put forward in the U.K. at the end of the 20th century.”
Meryl goes on to say that she admired her ability to rise from nothing due to her drive and perseverance:
“But to me she was a figure of awe for her personal strength and grit. To have won it, not because she inherited position as the daughter of a great man, or the widow of an important man, but by dint of her own striving. To have withstood the special hatred and ridicule, unprecedented in my opinion, leveled in our time at a public figure who was not a mass murderer; and to have managed to keep her convictions attached to fervent ideals and ideas ├óΓé¼ΓÇ£ wrongheaded or misguided as we might see them now ├óΓé¼ΓÇ£ without corruption; I see that as evidence of some kind of greatness, worthy for the argument of history to settle.”
Despite being one of the more controversial and polarizing figures in politics, Thatcher certainly has a special place in the history books as the only woman to serve as Prime Minister of the UK, and it’s great to see the actress recognizing her as the pioneer she was.
Our hearts and thoughts go out to her family during this difficult time.
[Image via Robin Milling/WENN.]