 Karina Longworth notes how " external " Streep 's performances are , " chameleonic " in her impersonation of characters , " subsuming herself into them , rather than personifying them " . In her early roles such as Manhattan and Kramer vs. Kramer , she was compared to both Diane Keaton and Jill Clayburgh , in that her characters were unsympathetic , which Streep has attributed to the tendency to be drawn to playing women who are difficult to like and are devoid of a mutual emotional understanding with others . Streep has stated that many consider her to be a technical actor , but she professed that it comes down to her love of reading the initial script , adding , " I come ready and I don 't want to screw around and waste the first 10 takes on adjusting lighting and everybody else getting comfortable " . 
