Hollywood Icon Meryl Streep Turns 77, See Her Shine Then & Now

“The Devil Wears Prada” star Meryl Streep celebrated her 77th birthday this week.

The iconic actress was born Mary Louise Streep on June 22, 1949, in New Jersey. She made her stage debut in the 1970s and eventually transitioned to the screen.

After five decades of Hollywood excellence, Meryl Streep has plenty of valuable lessons to share.

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Meryl Streep Reflects on Her Life & Career in the Spotlight

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Though Meryl Streep is one of the biggest names in Hollywood today, she knows what it’s like to be a struggling artist.

“Tom Stoppard said, ‘You’ve got to shift your weight,'” Streep said in a Vogue interview alongside Greta Gerwig and Anna Wintour. “You’re always, always on unstable ground. It’s so uncertain being an actor. You’re chronically unemployed. And then there’s no sort of climb, because fame is something you have in a second.”

“But to make a body of work and have faith in yourself?” the Hollywood icon continued. “That takes time, and you can’t do it at home by yourself—it’s not like writing or composing. I don’t think: I love this job. I’m going to have this job for a long time. I think: This is the world. The unstable world. Everything changes and it’s about learning to sort of be prepared for that.”

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She married Don Gummer in 1978, though they later separated in 2017. They had four children together and now have six grandchildren. Even though Meryl Streep is fiercely dedicated to her work, she adores being an active figure in her grandchildren’s lives.

“It’s just grabbing seconds, just grabbing everything you can of them, with the knowledge of how completely fleeting it all is and how rapidly time goes,” Streep continued in the Vogue interview. “This is what my mother said to me, and I said, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ It’s the longest, shortest time. And you can’t get anything back. So take as much as you can…. I find it divine.”

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The “Mamma Mia!” star is no stranger to traveling for work. Now, she travels coast to coast to see her family.

“I have six grandchildren, six under six. They’re six, five, four, three, two, and one,” Streep explained in the interview. “I hope we’re not done, but we’ll see. I can’t even talk about how much it means to me that my kids give me as much time as they do with their kids. The only thing is that they’re on two coasts, so I’m in the airplane a lot.”

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Meryl Streep Fought For Her Worth Before Filming ‘The Devil Wears Prada’

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During an interview with “Today,” Meryl Streep revealed she initially turned down her “Devil Wears Prada” role for a power move.

“I knew it was going to be a hit,” the actress told Jenna Bush Hager. “I read the script. Script was great. And they called me up and they made an offer, and I said, ‘No, not going to do it.'”

Streep felt they didn’t offer her what she was worth. As much as she wanted to participate, she knew her true value as an award-winning Hollywood star.

“I knew it was going to be a hit, and I wanted to see if I doubled my ask,” she recalled. “And they went right away and said, ‘Sure.’ And I thought, I’m 50, 60 — it took me this long to understand that I could do that.”

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After a lengthy career, Streep was considering retirement. She bet on herself and it ultimately paid off.

“They needed me, I felt. … I was ready to retire. But, you know, that was a lesson,” she revealed on “Today.”

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‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Stars Could Be Open to a Third Film

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Fans overwhelmingly adored “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” even 20 years after the original film’s release. The stars might be on board for a third film, but it ultimately boils down to one key element.

“The script,” Meryl Streep insisted while speaking to PEOPLE.

“A good script. It’s all about the script,” Emily Blunt agreed with her co-star.

“And then, everybody has to say yes,” Anne Hathaway chimed in. The actresses agreed the film’s four main stars have to be on board.

“They have to be alive,” Streep quipped.