7 Myths About Meryl

A fashion tyrant in The Devil Wears Prada, Streep proves that talent is always the new black.

BARRY WETCHER / 20th CENTURY FOX

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Being lots of other people is what Streep does. Mike Nichols, who has known her for 25 years, tells of a panic attack he had during the making of Silkwood, their first film together. "I knew that the Silkwood Meryl was the real Meryl, no question about it," he says. "And then I saw a screening of Sophie's Choice, and I said, 'Who the f___ is that? She's absolutely real! Which one is she?!'"

2 SHE'S NOT A STAR, BUT SHE THINKS SHE IS As it turns out, Streep is a cross between den mother and class cutup. On the set of Prada, director David Frankel was talking with Stanley Tucci about a scene. "I said, 'It's like you've been nominated for an Oscar, and they open the envelope and you don't win, and the camera's right in your face,'" recalls Frankel. "And he said, 'I can do that.' And Meryl said, 'I can do that! I've done it 11 times!!' She's very playful about being Meryl Streep." Streep is the most nominated actor in the history of the Academy, but has won only twice. Which makes it more notable that during shooting she essentially worked as an extra for three days, sitting in the background as the action focused on the assistants outside her office. She was probably on her BlackBerry, e-mailing one of her four children. "Gwyneth Paltrow put me on to it," she says. "It's the best parenting tool, because you can use it during a scene and no one will notice."

"One of the striking things about working with Meryl," says Nichols, "is that every day, more than any other actor I've worked with or seen, she comes on the set clearly feeling, 'Oh boy I get to do this one more time!' There's this sort of pretend-being-put-upon that we all start: 'Oh God, it's so early, and another scene, ugh, it's so hot ...' She has none of that. She's just, 'Let's go!'"

3 SHE'S JUST NOT THAT BEAUTIFUL When Mary Louise Streep hit seventh grade, she refused to wear the glasses she had needed since age 4 because, she says, "I wanted to be pretty." She succeeded--she was chosen to be homecoming queen. But being unattractive is an accusation Streep has fought all her career, even in The Deer Hunter days, when she was a certifiable knockout. Frankel thinks one of the reasons Streep made a big popcorny movie like Prada is that with three daughters, she's critically aware of the well-patrolled borders of traditional beauty and the Minutemen-like function performed by the fashion magazines.

Perhaps a woman with cheekbones like ice cliffs gets called plain because of her willingness--almost insistence--on transforming for each role. (On receiving one of her countless awards, Streep thanked longtime makeup artist Roy Helland for continuing "to do his best to destroy my natural good looks.") Though Streep's not the type to meekly offer herself up to the makeup trailer. "I thought, We'll sit down and we'll talk, and Meryl will try on a few things and we'll choose one," says Frankel of Streep's look in Prada. "No. Meryl made the decision. She and Roy sent us a photo and said, 'Here's the look.' I said, 'Great.' And the studio were beside themselves and fought it as hard as they could." (Says Elizabeth Gabler, president of Fox 2000: "We wanted to make sure that we explored every possible look. [Ultimately], we were thrilled with the choice.") This is the kind of behavior that leads to Myth No. 4 ...