With three Academy Award wins from a mind-blowing 21 nominations, on top of a trophy haul that also includes two BAFTAs, nine Golden Globes and three Primetime Emmys, Meryl Streep is the benchmark by which many modern actresses measure themselves.
The living legend has become such a monolithic presence in cinema that even A-listers with an acclaimed back catalogue of their own find themselves reduced to nervous wrecks around her, after Jennifer Lawrence revealed her greatest fear about working with Streep on upcoming Netflix disaster comedy Don’t Look Up.
Even though Lawrence has an Oscar herself and headlined a multi-billion dollar blockbuster franchise in The Hunger Games, she admitted in a recent interview with W magazine that she was petrified of coming across as an irritant to one of the finest talents to ever grace the silver screen.
“My biggest concern was I did not want to annoy Meryl Streep. That’s my worst nightmare. So, I will only speak if spoken to, and I will be the least annoying person in the room.”
Lawrence also happened to get high for real before shooting her scenes opposite Streep, so that may have helped lessen her anxiety, as well as assisting her for getting into character as a pot-friendly astronomer. Looking at the awards season buzz that’s following Don’t Look Up, it appears as though any sense of nervousness doesn’t come across in what’s shaping up to be one of Netflix’s major late-year success stories.