Page 3 Profile: Meryl Streep, actress

Meryl Streep, actress (FREDERIC J. BROWN/ AFP/Getty)

Another political role?

Spot on. After playing Margaret Thatcher in the 2011 film The Iron Lady, Meryl Streep is set to bring another hugely influential historical figure to the screen: the women’s rights activist Emmeline Pankhurst.

A little more rebellious than Maggie, no?

While Thatcher ruled the country from within 10 Downing Street, Pankhurst was famous for throwing stones through its windows. She became a heroic figure after forming the Women’s Social and Political Union to fight for female liberation in Britain - and embarking on a campaign of militant tactics in the fight for change.

OK, OK, let’s get back to the film ....

Streep, 64, is said to be in final negotiations to star in Suffragette alongside Oscar-nominated British belle Carey Mulligan - who can count her page three profile in last Saturday’s i among her achievements. Fans of The Iron Lady will be pleased to hear that the PM biopic’s screenwriter, Abi Morgan, is on-board.

What can we expect?

Those in the know say Streep’s role will be much smaller than Mulligan’s, but she will give an important, rousing speech during a political demonstration – a set-piece which should suit her well.

Thatcher, Pankhurst… who’s left?

Well, if they’re not big enough for Meryl, a survey this week found that she has been name checked in more acceptance speeches than anyone else.

And Pankhurst’s legacy?

Pankhurst, who died in 1928 aged 69, changed the UK and the world to an extent that’s hard to grasp. Named as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century by Time magazine in 1999, she was described as a woman who shocked “society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back”.