Watching Stephen Colbert administer his Proustian “Colbert Questionert†to Meryl Streep is like watching a beautiful, lyrical fencing match between two, uh, fencing people at the height of their fencing … abilities. Colbert fires off questions meant to reveal his subject’s deepest, truest self, and Streep treats every answer like a performance. “Favorite sandwich?†Pastrami, and oh, how she lights up when she says it. “Scariest animal?†Allow Meryl Streep to educate you about the nest of the black widow spider, which “looks like a coronavirus, but white.†She even has an immediate answer for what she thinks happens when we die, which is some combination of reuniting with our loved ones and returning to Earth to haunt people in a nice way. But Meryl is comically, theatrically silent when Colbert asks what her favorite action movie is. Streep’s eyes widen, she tilts her head to the side, and her face squirms from a thinky face into a tricky smile, saying, “There you’ve stumped me.†Colbert got Streep to admit through facial gestures alone that she isn’t much of an action fan. Which is a shame, because we consider her onstage work in Ricki and the Flash one of the best physical action performances there is.
Meryl Streep’s Favorite Action Movie Is None of Them
