Speech given by Meryl Streep, 2023 Princess of Asturias Award for Arts, at the Awards ceremony.
Meryl Streep thinks that because she has played the roles of many outstanding women she might be (1)____________ for one.
It's hard to quantify what actors do because of their (2)____________/ _______________ gift.
The most important part of an actor's gift is (3)______________
An actor's nervous system is (4)________________ connected to the character he plays.
Meryl Streep has been criticized for (5)__________ too far away from her own identity.
She believes it is an actor’s job to make each life (6)_______________ to the audience.
When we become adults we (7)____________ down our feelings.
Lorca wrote his impassioned play on the eve of another (8)______________.
Empathy can be a form of (9)______________ and diplomacy in other areas.
We live in an increasingly hostile, (10)____________ world.
Key
1. mistaken
2. shape shifting, substance-less
3. empathy
4. sympathetically
5. veering
6. accessible
7. tamp
tamp down: to reduce the amount, level, size, or importance of something:
As the price of gasoline rose above $3 a gallon, consumers cut their spending elsewhere, tamping down profits in retail, travel and other industries.
The party retained power by boosting the economy and tamping down corruption.
8. cataclysm
cataclysm:
a sudden disaster or a violent event that causes change, for example a flood or a war
- to survive the cataclysm of the Black Death
9. outreach
10. volatile
Meryl Streep’s Acceptance’s Speech Transcript
Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, distinguished members of the Princess of Asturias Award Foundation. My esteemed colleagues. Ladies and gentlemen, amigos. I am so honoured to be here this evening to be included among these accomplished, generous talents in this beautiful hall which I feel if we listen, we can hear the echoes of the voices of many of our heroes of the 20th and this very young century.
It’s hard for me to imagine that I am here because I think sometimes that I have pretended to be an extraordinary woman all my life, that sometimes I’m mistaken for one.
But I am truly, truly grateful for this recognition of the art of acting, which is the work of my life and the essence of which remains very mysterious even to me. What is it that actors do, really? The actor’s shapeshifting, substanceless gift is what makes it hard to assess and measure what is worth to us, its value.
I know for me when I see a performance that speaks to me, particularly, I keep it in my heart for days or even decades. You know, when I feel that other person’s pain or their joy or or I laugh at their foolishness, I feel as if I’ve discovered something true and I feel more alive.
And I feel connected. But connected to what? To people. Other people. To have the experience of being someone else. So what does this magic connection? We know that empathy is the heart of the actor’s gift.
It’s the current that connects me and my actual pulse to a fictional character. And I can make her heart race, or I can quiet it in as a scene requires. And my nervous system, sympathetically wired to hers, carries that current out to you and to the woman sitting next to you and to her friend.
And in the live theatre, we can all feel as if we’re feeling it together. And it is easier to be emotionally connected to people who are like us. You know, it’s. But I’ve always been interested and pulled to understand that other counterintuitive instinct that we have to.
Understand strangers, people that are not like us, and the imaginative ability we have to follow the stories of people outside our tribe as if they were our own.
In my own work, I’ve been criticized, you know, for going too far afield from my own lived experience, from veering too far away from my own truth or my identity, all the accents, you know, the nationalities.
And I played a man once. But is it just a stunt to want to wrap my arms around the world, to want to wander and wonder and try to see through so many different coloured eyes and experiences?
I’m just a nice middle-class girl from New Jersey, so who am I to presume to wear the shoes of the first female Prime Minister of the UK? Or to imagine being a Polish Holocaust survivor, or an Italian housewife, or a rabbi, or the arbiter of the final arbiter of the fashion world? Because that’s not my area of expertise. Honestly. A great Spanish artist, Pablo Picasso, said to imitate others is necessary. To imitate oneself is pathetic. And another great Spanish artist, Penelope Cruz, said, you cannot live your life looking at yourself from someone else’s point of view. That’s my bad Penelope imitation.
So, I persevere in spite of the critics because I think it is an actor’s job to trespass, to appropriate another’s life, to embody lives that are not like ours. The most important part of our job is to make each life accessible and felt to an audience, whether that audience is in a small theatre in Malaga or whether they’re watching via streaming media from all around the globe.
One rule that actors are taught in drama school is that you must never judge your character. The character you’re playing judging makes you sit outside. Her experience and the bargain you make when you climb into her shoes is to try to see the world through her eyes.
Let the audience judge you. Make your own best case on her behalf. We are all born with fellow feelings empathy, a porous, shared humanity.
Babies will cry just on seeing the tears of another. But as we grow up, we set about to tamp down those feelings, to suppress them, and to supplant them in favour of self-preservation or ideology. And we mistrust and we suspect the motives of other people that are not like us.
And so we arrive at this unhappy moment in history. When I was in college, I designed the costumes for Lorca’s great, timeless play The House of Bernarda Alba, and in it, one of the sisters, Martirio, says, history repeats itself. I can see that everything is a terrible repetition.
And Lorca wrote this impassioned play two months before his own murder, on the eve of another cataclysm. That he could see from so high above that he had such a distance on events so close to his own throat, his extraordinary that he could express through martirio a wisdom that could not save him but serves as a warning to us. It is a gift to the world.
To act in such a play is to give a voice to the dead that the living can hear. It’s an actor’s privilege. The gift of empathy is something we all share. This mysterious ability to sit in a darkened theatre, strangers next to each other, and to feel the feelings of people that don’t look like us, don’t sound like us.
It’s one that we could all do well to take outside into the daylight. Empathy. Empathy may be a radical form of outreach and diplomacy in other theatres of endeavour. In our world, in our increasingly hostile and volatile world.
I hope we take to heart another lesson that every actor is taught. And that is it’s it’s all about listening. Thank you for listening. Thank you. And thank you for this. Thank you.
Related links:
https://europeantimes.news/2023/10/meryl-streep-princess-of-asturias-2023/
Well-written version:
Your Majesties,
Your Royal Highnesses,
Distinguished Members of the Princess of Asturias Award Foundation,
Esteemed Fellow Laureates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
¡Amigos!,
I am so honored to be here this evening, to be included among these accomplished laureates, in this beautiful hall where if we listen, we may hear ECHO, the voices of many of our heroes of the twentieth and this our young century.
It’s hard for me to imagine I am here. Some part of me suspects that because I have pretended to be extraordinary people all my life, now I am being mistaken for one!
But I am truly grateful for this recognition of the art of acting, the work of my life- the essence of which remains mysterious even to me. What is it that actors do, really? The actor’s shape shifting, substance-less gift is what makes it hard to quantify, or measure. What is its worth to us? Its value?
I know for me, when I see a performance that speaks to me particularly, it can stay with me for days, sometimes decades. When I feel that other person’s pain, or joy, or I laugh at their foolishness, I feel as if I have discovered something true, I feel more alive, and I feel connected. Connected to what, exactly? To other people, to the experience of being someone else. What is the magic of this connection?
Empathy is the beating heart of the actors gift. It is the current that connects me and my actual pulse to that of a fictional character. I can make her heart race, or quiet it, as a scene requires- And my nervous system, sympathetically wired to hers, carries this current to you, sitting in the theatre, and to the woman sitting next to you, and to her friend as well.
We all feel as if it is happening to us at the same time. It is easier to be emotionally connected to the lives of people like us, of course. But I have always been pulled to understand that other, counter-intuitive instinct we have: to care about strangers, the imaginative ability we have to follow the stories of people outside our tribe as if they were our own.
In my own work, I have been criticized for going too far afield from my own “lived experience”, for veering too far away from my own ‘truth’ and identity. All the accents, you know?
But is it a stunt? To want to wrap my arms around the world? To want to wander off , to wonder, and try to see out of so many different colored eyes and experiences? Who am I, a nice middle class girl from New Jersey, to presume to wear the shoes of the first female Prime Minister of the UK? Or a Polish Holocaust survivor? Or the taste-making arbiter of the fashion world?
A great Spanish artist, Pablo Picasso said, “To imitate others is necessary. To imitate oneself is pathetic.”
And another great Spanish artist, Penelope Cruz said, “You cannot live your life looking at yourself from someone else’s point of view!”
So. I persevere in spite of the critics because I believe it is an actor’s job to trespass, to embody lives not like ours. Because the most important part of our job is to make each life accessible and felt to the audience, whether they are sitting in a small theatre in Málaga?, or watching via streaming media from all around the globe.
One rule actors are taught in drama school is that you must not judge the character you are playing. Judging makes you sit outside her experience. The bargain you make when you climb into her shoes is to see the world from inside her head . Let the audience judge. You make your best case on her behalf.
We are born with fellow-feeling, empathy, and a porous shared humanity. Babies will cry just on seeing the tears of another. But as we grow, we set about to tamp down those feelings, and suppress them the rest of our lives; supplant them in favor of self preservation or ideology, and to suspect and mistrust the motives of others. And so we arrive at this unhappy moment in history.
In college, I designed the costumes for a production of Lorca’s timeless play, “The House of Bernarda Alba”. In it, one of the sisters, Martirio cries out: “History repeats itself! I can see that everything is a terrible repetition!” Lorca wrote his impassioned play two months before his own murder, on the eve of yet another cataclysm. That he could see from so high above, had such distance on events so close to his own throat, is extraordinary. That he could express, through Martirio, a wisdom that would not save him, but serves as a warning to the future, is a gift to us. To act in such a play is to give the dead a voice the living can hear. It’s an actor’s privilege, and her duty.
The gift of empathy is something we all share. The mysterious ability to sit together, strangers in a darkened theatre, and feel the feelings of people that don’t look like us or sound like us, is one we all might do well to take outside with us into the daylight. Empathy may be a radical form of outreach and diplomacy useful in other theaters of endeavor as well. In our increasingly hostile, volatile world, I hope we might take to heart another rule every actor is taught, which is: it is all about listening.
Thank you for listening, and thank you from my heart for this great honor.
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