Meryl Streep Breaks Out Oscar to Introduce "Real Deal" Hillary Clinton at Women in the World Summit

Clinton joked she was glad the actress "didn't do a movie called The Devil Wears Pantsuits!"

By Rebecca Macatee Mar 10, 2012 9:39 PMTags
Meryl StreepKevin Winter/Getty Images

Don't think Meryl Streep's Academy Award for Best Actress is already gathering dust on the shelf. 

One of Streep's three gold statues took center stage Saturday at the Women in the World Summit in New York City when she was introducing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"This is what you get when you play a world leader," Streep said, placing her Oscar for her role as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady onto the podium. "But if you want a real world leader, and you're really, really, lucky, this is what you get!"

Clinton then joined Streep on the stage, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd. But the Oscar winner wasn't the only gal who made the audience laugh...

After thanking Streep for her glowing introduction, Clinton addressed the eager crowd. "We do, unfortunately, throughout our lives as girls and women, often cast an appraising eye," she said. "I'm just glad [Meryl] didn't do a movie called The Devil Wears Pantsuits!"

But it was Streep who pointed out that incessant skepticism of Clinton, largely because of her gender, hasn't held her back. "While we were busy relating to [Hillary], judging her, assessing her hair, supporting her, worrying about her, she's just been busy working. Doing it," she said. "Making [the] words 'Women's rights are human rights' into something every leader knows is a linchpin of American policy."

"I am an actress," Streep said. "And she is the real deal."