 Such is Streep 's contemporary position in world cinema that Vanity Fair has commented that " it 's hard to imagine that there was a time before Meryl Streep was the greatest @-@ living actress " . Emma Brockes of The Guardian notes that despite Streep 's being " one of the most famous actresses in the world " , it is " strangely hard to pin an image on Streep " , in a career where she has " laboured to establish herself as an actor whose roots lie in ordinary life " . Despite her success , Streep has always been modest about her own acting and achievements in cinema . She has stated that she has no particular method when it comes to acting , learning from the days of her early studies that she can 't be articulate . She said in 1987 , " I have a smattering of things I 've learned from different teachers , but nothing I can put into a valise and open it up and say ' Now which one would you like ' ? Nothing I can count on and that makes it more dangerous . But then the danger makes it more exciting . " She has stated that her ideal director is one who gives her complete artistic control , and allowing a degree of improvization and her to learn from her own mistakes . 
