Imagine looking at Meryl Streep and thinking: “no, this woman won’t do”. Well, that happened. At an audition for King Kong, producer Dino De Laurentiis saw her and remarked in Italian that she was “ugly”, not knowing that she understood perfectly what he was saying.
Meryl didn’t burst into tears or make a scene. She replied in Italian something like: “I’m sorry I’m not pretty enough to be in King Kong“, and moved on with her life. She didn’t get the part, but she didn’t hold on to the humiliation either.
The most incredible thing is that at that moment no one could have imagined what would come next. Because while some were dismissing her for not fitting a certain ideal of beauty, she was building a career that would end up speaking for itself.
A short time later came Kramer vs. Kramer, the film for which she won her first Oscar. And from there, she never stopped. Over the years she racked up nominations, awards, and performances that made her an absolute benchmark in cinema.
Today she has 21 Oscar nominations, more than any other performer in history, and is considered one of the greatest actresses of all time.
So yes, the man had an opinion (a wrong one)… but Meryl had something far more important: talent. And in the end, that was what stayed forever.