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This is fresh air.

I'm Terry Gross.

Today we continue our series classic films and movie icons

and hear interviews from our archive with Merrill Streep and Sydney Poirier.

I spoke with Streep in 2012 when she was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal

of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the film The Iron Lady.

She won.

She'd previously won for her performances in Kramer versus Kramer and Sophie's Choice.

She holds the record for the most Oscar nominations, a total of 21.

One of the things she's known for is her uncanny ability to do accents.

Let's start by hearing how she sounds as Margaret Thatcher. The film begins after

Thatcher has lost her husband and is suffering from dementia. She's imagining

that her husband is still with her and talking to her. In this scene, Street portrays Thatcher

after she's become the first woman to lead the Conservative Party. She's speaking

before the House of Commons. The right honorable gentleman knows very well that we had no choice but to close the school.

So, because his union paymasters have called a strike deliberately to cripple our economy.

...