Entertainment Desk

Oscar-winning Hollywood actress Meryl Streep is all set to receive the honorary Palme d’Or Award at the opening ceremony of the upcoming 77th Cannes Film Festival. According to a statement issued by the festival, the actress has also been invited as a Guest of Honour at the event, set to take place on 14 May at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, France. This will mark her first trip to Cannes, 35 years after she won the Best Actress Award for A Cry in the Dark in 1989.

The 2024 edition of the Cannes Film Festival will kickstart on 14 May and conclude on 25 May. While the upcoming edition will bring forward a flurry of notable Hollywood legends, George Lucas will also receive the Palme d’Or during the closing ceremony.

Streep, who first won the best actress award at Cannes in 1989 for Fred Schepisi’s Evil Angels, said she was equally humbled and thrilled to be receiving the award. The Devil Wears Prada actress will kick off Cannes 2024 with the awards list given by the President of the Jury, Greta Gerwig.

Opening up upon receiving the prestigious award at Cannes, Meryl Streep expressed “immeasurable honour” and “thrilled” as she looks forward to thanking everyone in person. “I am immeasurably honored to receive the news of this prestigious award.

To win a prize at Cannes, for the international community of artists, has always represented the highest achievement in the art of filmmaking. To stand in the shadow of those who have previously been honored is humbling and thrilling in equal part. I look forward to coming to France to thank everyone in person this May!” she said in a statement.

The festival organisers also acknowledged the actress’ outstanding contribution to cinema and said, “We all have something in us of Meryl Streep like Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, Out of Africa, The Bridges of Madison County, The Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia! Because she has spanned almost 50 years of cinema and embodied countless masterpieces, Meryl Streep is part of our collective imagination, our shared love of cinema.”

The 74-year-old Academy Award-winning actress is one of the most-fetched in the history of Hollywood, with a record of bagging 21 nominations and three Oscars. With a career spanning five decades, she has featured in a number of modern classics, dramas and family favourites.