Helen’s royal appointment (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Helen’s royal appointment

5:41pm Wednesday 27th September 2006 in

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AS THE mother of three daughters, Meryl Streep knows both the innate appeal and destructive dangers of the fashion industry.

The 57-year-old star plays Miranda Priestly, an ice queen of couture, in her new dark comedy The Devil Wears Prada.

Decked out in designer clothes, she's the powerfully bitchy editor of a style magazine whose whole world revolves around fashion and appearance - where, in a line from the film, "size six is the new 14".

Fashion has a profound effect on girls and how they view themselves, Meryl admits.

I always knew, if I could find the right person, I’d like to have a family

Meryl Streep

"I remember the effect fashion magazines had on me when I was growing up. How they added to my feelings of inadequacy and unattractiveness, and yet they were a sort of inspiration.

"You think, if only I could be that thin, or change my nose or my hair. If I had the right shoes or jewellery maybe everything would be all right for me. So it's all tied up in ourselves and very conflicting."

The ageless actress, whose daughters are aged from 14 to 22, knows the importance of looking good.

Meryl is famous for refusing to fix a deviated septum in her nose, which usually means directors avoid straight-on close-ups.

"There's nothing like dressing up and feeling good. Where it gets weird is when it leads to certain directions that are bad for kids. It can be very destructive."

On how to deal with that, Meryl has no easy answer.

"People want what they want. Sometimes you have to walk in defiance of it and just be yourself."

In The Devil Wears Prada, author Lauren Weisberger allegedly modelled Meryl's ruthless fashion bitch character on her former boss, American Vogue's editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

And Meryl didn't have far to go to find inspiration either - she drew on mostly male control freaks she's experienced in the film business.

"Compared with some of the people I know, Miranda is well behaved. She's like a diplomat compared with some very powerful people in our business."

While maybe not likeable, Miranda is a very human character, the actress contends.

"I was interested in making a human being as contradictory and messy as we all are. I think she's an exacting, highly disciplined, ambitious person who doesn't take the time for the nice social lubricants that help make the workplace grateful and fun.

"From Miranda's point of view, she wants to excel on every level and that's really hard."

Star factfile

Name: Mary Louise Streep Bet you didn't know that: Sesame Street named a character in her honour - Meryl Sheep Where you have seen her recently: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Where you will see her next: Opposite Lindsay Lohan in A Prairie Home Companion

Personally, Meryl is quite different from the character she plays.

The double Oscar winner says: "I'm an extremely undisciplined person and, in many ways, the polar opposite of Miranda.

"But I understand her and admire some of the things about her. I see the bind she is in as a woman."

As for fashion, Meryl admits she can be a pain for any costume designer because she has lots of opinions.

"I feel strongly that we make decisions about what we're withholding from the world by virtue of what we put on our bodies. What we choose to say and not say. So, for me, clothes are sort of character," she says.

"They're more interesting in those terms. I don't follow fashion or understand the trends."

Doing a wonderful Audrey Hepburn turn, Anne Hathaway plays Miranda's new assistant who brings out a sliver of humanity in the Cruella De Vil of the catwalk.

"Her beauty is so stunning in this movie that when we were watching the dailies, there were gasps because it is amazing," Meryl says of her young co-star.

While Meryl has never been regarded as overtly pretty, she has a powerful beauty. In many ways she's the finest living actress in America and has been nominated for Academy Awards a phenomenal 13 times.

Such is her reputation that she has the pick of roles, even though she's well past the traditional Hollywood age barrier. She played a psychiatrist in last year's Prime and a singer in the critically-praised A Prairie Home Companion.

She has recently completed a drama about a dying woman reflecting on her life in Evening, alongside Glenn Close and Toni Collette.

Coming up, she'll also play a woman president in First Man and depict Martha Mitchell, wife of Nixon's beleaguered attorney general, in Dirty Tricks - both of which are set to be released next year.

Meryl is living proof there's still stardom for women in middle age.

"Those are the parts written for women my age, and you can extrapolate the meaning in that.

"At least there are parts for me. It used to be you went from young thing to old lady. Now there's more a middle ground to play different types of characters."

The downside is most of the roles she's now offered tend towards the darker side.

"Often, the older they are, the more villainous. That says something about our society too."

Married to sculptor Don Gummer since 1978, Meryl really does seem to have it all, juggling having a family and pursuing an acting career with ease.

"Showbusiness has been really, really good to me because I can work and take a lot of time off.

"I think I was wired for a family. I always knew, if I could find the right person, I'd like to have a family. I can't imagine living as a single person."

Born in New Jersey, Meryl got hooked on acting early on and studied at the Yale School of Drama. Her breakout performance was in Julia in 1977. She won her first Oscar in Kramer vs Kramer two years later.

"Let's face it," she says, "we were all once three-year-olds who stood in the middle of the living room and everyone thought we were so adorable.

"Only some of us grow up and get paid for it."

-Robin Walker