It’s no state secret that actress Meryl Streep is a favourite of the folks who live at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. President Barack Obama once publicly declared his love for her. (“Her husband knows I love her. Michelle knows I love her,” he gushed. “There’s nothing either of them can do about it.”)
And she’s been involved in Michelle Obama’s Let Girls Learn initiative, joining the first lady on a tour of Morocco and Liberia. On Tuesday, the White House hosted a celebration of the International Day of the Girl and a screening of a documentary made about the girls Obama met on her trip. (Streep appears in the documentary, along with actress Freida Pinto and CNN journalist Isha Sesay.)
During a panel discussion before a screening of We Will Rise: Michelle Obama’s Mission to Educate Girls Around the World, Streep indicated that the goodwill was mutual. She echoed the wonder expressed by the young women who were the subject of the documentary at being inside the White House. “I’m ‘wow!’ too” she said.
Streep described her own challenges as a girl, including becoming a cheerleader because girls couldn’t play sports at the time. And despite the strides women have made, Streep indicated one thing that might still be holding them back. The Oscar winner described how she had broken her foot recently, but “I’m still wearing these,” she said, lifting a foot to show a pair of impressive high-heel boots. “Because we are slaves to fashion, so we’re behind the 8-ball, still,” she said to laughs from the crowd.
On a more serious note ...
“The world is full of terrible news, and you kind of get used to it,” she said. “In this room, there is so much possibility and hope for the future — this is the good news.”
