A vital mix of critical acclaim and heated debate among its polarized viewers led “Don’t Look Up” way into the early months o 2021. The film received 4 Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture, and was nominated for the Outstanding Performance by a cast in a Motion Picture by the Screen Actors Guild (going home empty-handed at both ceremonies). It would remain the last feature film that Meryl Streep would take on and there was no additional project for the year, except a narration job for PBS’ “The U.S. and the Holocaust” by frequent collaborator Ken Burns.

In October, Streep accepted the Distinguished Achievement Award Ceremony by Vassar College and did a round of public appearances, including an honor to longtime colleague Robert De Niro by Austin’s Ransom Center Anniversary.