Meryl Streep seized the opportunity of presenting the AFI Life Achievement Award to Nicole Kidman last weekend.
The duo shared the screen in the 2002 film “The Hours” and Season 2 of “Big Little Lies.” Streep had the audience in stitches as she quipped about “the exceedingly toughest aspect of being incessantly hailed as the preeminent actress of my era.”
“What's the toughest part?” Streep teased. “Ah! The toughest part is when you encounter, or you're acting alongside, another individual who is also exceedingly, exceedingly, exceedingly, exceedingly, exceedingly, exceedingly great. That’s challenging.”
Collaborating with Kidman on “Big Little Lies,” Streep noted it was the moment she “came within breathing distance of the formidable gifts Nicole possesses, her process, and her seismic reservoir of emotion she keeps locked away inside, her stamina, and her drive to be an artist, and her discipline.”
She recounted Kidman's decision on the first day of shooting to tackle an emotional scene multiple times, delivering a stellar performance with each take.
“I haven’t recovered from that first day, I’ve never seen anything like that in my life,” Streep remarked. “For me, it was jolting because I thought this woman is a Valkyrie. How is she able to maintain that? Never faltering, never easing up.”
Kidman reciprocated the admiration as she accepted the award.
“I don’t know what it is but you’re a paragon of excellence and warmth and generosity, but you’ve been my guiding star, so to receive this from you, you have no idea,” Kidman expressed about Streep. “My husband will affirm, my parents will affirm, it’s always been you, and no one can rival you.”
The ceremony will debut on TNT on June 17 and on Turner Classic Movies on June 27, both of which, like CNN, are part of Warner Bros. Discovery.
