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| Meryl Streep inhabiting Margaret Thatcher |
How did Streep dig down and find that character and then make her live so vividly on the screen?
Now some film stars are wonderful just being themselves - Clint Eastwood, say, or even Jeff Bridges. They find the character in another aspect of themselves. Meryl Streep is not like that. She transforms herself. She actually seems to become another person. It's more than mimicry. I felt almost spooked by how Streep could be Streep and Thatcher simultaneously.
And with this role, she is being a character we all know well. We already know Thatcher's screen persona and there she is – except with greater depth.
Both Streep's Sun and Moon form exact aspects to outer planets, which, I think go some why to explaining her prodigious talent. The closeness of the aspects, within minutes is critical and the fact that it is the Lights which are strengthened means the outer planet power is right at the core of her being.
First there is the striking Sun-Uranus conjunction at a critical degree, 0° Cancer. The planets are just one minute apart. That is magnified by an exact quincunx from Jupiter in Aquarius, which is ruled by Uranus, giving the outer planet extra strength.
Cancer Sun is tremendously sensitive, with an instinctive ability to feel and reflect a mood, just like the Moon, her ruler, reflects the light of the Sun. The Moon is in the 10th house of career and renown in Streep's chart and exalted in Taurus.
Uranus is the magician's planet – and part of Streep's talent is sleight of hand. In The Iron Lady, we concentrate on just how she holds her lower lip with her teeth – exactly like Thatcher – and forget that she has a quite different face really. In her chart, Uranus is embedded right in her self (the Sun).
A lot of film stars have prominent Pluto on the Ascendant or the Midheaven, aspecting personal planets. I've always associated it with sex appeal, a helpful thing to have on the silver screen. But I think the key word for Meryl Streep's chart is transformation. Pluto is the transformer.
So what happens when you have Pluto in Leo (the performer) in the first house (the self) in exact aspect to the 10th house (career) Moon (what comes naturally) in earthy Taurus? Meryl Streep is famous for her ability to change her voice. (Taurus rules the throat and therefore the voice). But she also seems able to transform her very soul to become another person.
So what about this particular part? I guess Streep really did dig deep to find the Iron Lady. When she was making the movie, Saturn (the iron planet) was crossing her Neptune (movies and illusion) and her IC.
As you know if you read this blog, I favour exact or very close aspects. Here is what I found looking at a few charts of actors I consider (very subjectively) have the chameleon quality.
DiCaprio - Uranus-Mercury in the 1st 29 Libra - exact. He also has Pluto rising.
Caine - Uranus opp Moon - Aries-Libra - exact. Pluto in the first trine Sun in the 10th. 2° different.
Winslet Uranus 1 Scorpio - Saturn 1 Leo - exact. Pluto rising conjunct Sun, Moon and Part of Fortune.
Day Lewis - Sun 8 Taurus - Uranus 7 Leo - 1°.
Seymour Hoffman - Aq Moon qq Virg Uranus - exact (but no birthtime)
Kidman - Pluto and Uranus Vir, Can Mercury exact sextile at 20 - exact
Sean Penn - Sun 24 con Uranus 21 in Leo trine Jup in Leo 23 - exact on the midpoint.
Moon-Pluto sextile - exact
Moon-Pluto sextile - exact
