Meryl Streep Plays Another Historical British Woman In Suffragette

The Oscar winner plays a famous feminist from the women's suffrage movement in her latest film

Meryl Streep Suffragette
Meryl Streep Suffragette
(Image credit: Rex)

The Oscar winner plays a famous feminist from the women's suffrage movement in her latest film

By this point, Meryl Streep must have her English accent down to a science.

The Oscar-winning actress, 64, is taking her second stab at portraying a female British icon in the upcoming film Suffragette.

In 2011, Meryl won the Best Actress Oscar for her take on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. And now she's back in character again, this time playing women's suffrage fighter Emmeline Pankhurst.

Meryl Streep Iron Lady

Meryl Streep Iron Lady
(Image credit: Rex)

The period drama, which also stars Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter, has been shooting in London for the past few weeks.

Yesterday, Meryl was seen sporting a 1920s costume and as she tackled a few of the famous feminist's scenes. Wearing a feathered hat and a ruffled blouse, Meryl gave a speech from the balcony of a Georgian townhouse in Clerkenwell.

The project seems to have some government support; it's the first commercial film to be given permission to shoot inside Houses of Parliament.

This is Meryl's second role playing a female British political figure - but she's had several roles portraying real people. She famously took on the role of Julia Childs in 2009's Julie & Julia, she played a character based (loosely) on Anna Wintour in 2006's The Devil Wears Prada and one based on Nora Ephron in 1986's Heartburn, to name a few.

Seems she has a knack for stepping into other ladies' shoes.

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Ali Gray is an award-winning content director and digital strategist. Most recently she was the Director of Branded Content at Hearst, and helped to bridge the gap between the editorial and commercial worlds working across all Hearst brands, including ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Esquire and Harper's Bazaar. Prior to that she worked as an editor contributing to several brands such as The Telegraph, iVillage UK.