Meryl Streep, at home in N.J., says she empathizes with Trump (who called her overrated) – NJ.com

Meryl Streep started the night off the only way a true New Jerseyan could. 

“JERSEY!!!” she shouted in a guttural tone, sounding the call to her fellow Garden State natives, wearing a black jacket, white blouse, striped pants and a broad smile.

The actress was the star of the annual benefit for the Montclair Film Festival hosted by Stephen Colbert on Saturday at NJPAC in Newark. (Colbert’s wife, Evelyn McGee-Colbert, is president of Montclair Film’s board of trustees.)

Streep, 69, who has won three Oscars in her career and has been nominated 21 times, was born in Summit and grew up in Basking Ridge and Bernardsville, where she attended high school. 

She began her conversation with Colbert by remembering one particular childhood episode from when her family was living in Madison and there was a hurricane. “For some reason,” she said, her father took her into the attic during the storm. She went on to have nightmares about being in the space as the weather churned outside. 

“But that’s how I think of New Jersey,” she said, getting the first of what would be many laughs.