Meryl Streep: 12 Essential Roles

The Deer Hunter (1978)

Not her first movie role — that was her bit part in Julia a year earlier, where the 20-something Yale Drama School grad, already a force to reckon with on stage, trailed far behind Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave in the credits. But her presence in Michael Cimino's epic Vietnam War pic was certainly Streep's first wowee, who IS this woman? moment as Linda, the Pennsylvania steel-town homegirl loved by two guys on their way to in-country hell. The Oscar nomination Streep received was the first of what would, by 2003, grow to a record 13.

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