Before you share that viral Meryl Streep throwback pic, know this
Okay, so everybody knows Meryl Streep is a total badass — there is tons and tons of proof. But the latest Meryl Streep throwback pic that went extremely viral yesterday is just all kinds of wrong.
This photo from the Facebook page for Meryl L. Streep has been circulating the Internet and has garnered over one million likes and quite a handful of shares. Here it is:
The post is beautiful and very Meryl-y in its message, but unfortunately the photo and quote do not match. In fact, Meryl never actually said that. Nylon reported on the fake pic saying, “What many people are failing to realize, though, is that the photo and caption do not belong together. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Meryl L. Streep is not actually Meryl Streep’s Facebook page. It’s a fan page and clearly states so in its About section.”
In fact, the page has “unofficial” built right into the name. And what’s even worse, the caption isn’t even factually accurate. Meryl Streep hasn’t won 18 Oscars — she’s been nominated 19 times, and won thrice. That’s no small feat and we totally think she deserves 19, but if this post was actually from Queen Meryl, it would probably get the stats right, including the year.
The post did get a few things right, however. The story about being turned down for King Kong is totally the truth. Nylon recalls Meryl’s visit to The Graham Norton Show earlier in the year when she, “recounted how Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis asked his son, who thought the then-unknown Streep would be perfect for the role, ‘Why do you bring me this ugly thing?’ Streep, obviously, spoke Italian and responded, ‘I’m sorry I’m not beautiful enough to be in King Kong.’”
The role in King Kong went to Jessica Lange, but Meryl went on to be one of the most celebrated actresses of our time. How do you say, “take that, haters” in Italian?
Even though we kind of love what the unofficial Meryl is saying here, the big takeaway is to always, always be careful what you share.
Related reading:
Meryl Streep wrote 535 letters to Congress asking for equal pay for women—and here’s what happened
Everything I need to know, I learned from Meryl Streep
[Image via Facebook]
