Streep finds AFI honor ‘really overwhelming’

It was one of those only-in-Hollywood events in which the fans snapping photos of movie stars were just as likely to be celebrities themselves.

Even the guest of honor couldn’t resist the temptation, as Meryl Streep pulled out a camera and began taking pictures of the crowd when she made her entrance into the Kodak Theatre, where she received the American Film Institute’s 32nd annual Life Achievement Award.

In a Thursday night ceremony that was filled with humor, warmth and more than a few tears, the two-time Oscar winner, who has been nominated for the Academy Award a record 13 times, joins such performers and directors as Tom Hanks, Fred Astaire, Gregory Peck, Orson Welles, Jack Lemmon and Billy Wilder in receiving the AFI honor.

The Life Achievement Award, though, also has been pretty much a boys’ club. Streep is only the sixth woman to have received it. Previously the honor went to Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Barbara Stanwyck, Elizabeth Taylor and Barbra Streisand.

Although visibly moved when she received the honor from Mike Nichols, who directed her in several films, including “Silkwood” and the much-honored miniseries “Angels in America,” the actress was quick on her feet. “Can’t we just do this every year?”

Acknowledging the fatigue-factor in a show that ran well over two hours, Streep added, “I’m exhausted. Imagine how you must feel.”

Jim Carrey, who just finished filming “Lemony Snicket’s a Series of Unfortunate Events” with Streep, opened the show with a dazzling mixture of jokes and dead-on impressions of Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson. “Meryl, you rule,” he said to Streep, who was sitting with her husband, artist Donald Gummer, and their children, Henry, Mamie, Grace and Louise.

“I was a little nervous” about working with her, Carrey said. “But lucky for me she was open and willing to learn. You picked up on that right away.”

Carrey ran up to Streep and kissed her as she grabbed his ears.

In between tributes from costars such as Nicholson, Clint Eastwood and Kurt Russell, there were frequent excerpts from a recent interview with the actress who is considered one of the greatest of her generation.

As a youngster, Streep, who is about to turn 55, ran for every school office but never won. “When I found the peroxide bottle, I got homecoming queen,” Streep said.

James Woods remembered the time Streep met her future husband. “You were blushing,” he told her.

Kevin Kline, who made his feature debut opposite Streep in “Sophie’s Choice,” for which she won her second Oscar, declared, “I have never been more thrilled or challenged by an acting experience.”

He recalled that during one scene in which his character was to beat up Sophie, Streep had told him: “Don’t hold back anything -- don’t be afraid of hurting me. You can’t. She showed me the ropes.”

Costumer designer Ann Roth, who has worked with Streep on seven films, said the actress “knows everything about friendship, family and a good dinner.”

In “Heartburn,” Streep played a character based on the film’s writer, Nora Ephron. “She plays all of us better than we do,” Ephron told the crowd. “When I am having a hard day, I call her up and she’ll step in for me.”

Ephron added that Streep works hard transforming herself into a character, recalling she once walked into the actress’ trailer only to discover “she turned out to be a 63-year-old Asian woman.”

In handing her the award, Nichols said Streep was not only a life force, “she also defines what is possible for an actor as an artist, a parent and a citizen.” Directing the actress, he said, is like “getting flying lessons from a hawk.”

Streep said the evening, which will be broadcast June 21 on the USA Network, was “really overwhelming,” and she seemed to be embarrassed being praised as someone practically perfect.

Referring to that ideal, she said, “I wish I were her,” as tears filled her eyes. “I really do.”