For more than 50 years, Meryl Streep has been one of the most recognizable women in Hollywood.

She has won three Academy Awards, played everyone from Margaret Thatcher to Miranda Priestly, and built the kind of career most actors could only dream about.

But at 76, Streep’s life today isn’t simply about awards, premieres or being called one of the greatest actresses of all time.

In many ways, she’s entered an entirely different chapter.

And perhaps the biggest surprise is how much of her happiness now seems to exist away from the Hollywood spotlight.

A Marriage That Quietly Changed

For decades, Meryl Streep and sculptor Don Gummer appeared to have one of Hollywood’s most enduring marriages.

They married in 1978 and raised four children together.

At the 2012 Academy Awards, Streep even used the beginning of her Best Actress acceptance speech to thank Gummer, saying that everything she valued most in their lives had come from him.

So fans were stunned when news emerged in 2023 that the couple had actually been living separate lives for years.

Streep’s representative confirmed that she and Gummer had been separated for more than six years, saying that although they would always care for each other, they had “chosen lives apart.”

It meant that one of Hollywood’s most famous marriages had changed dramatically without the public realizing it.

But that wasn’t the end of Streep’s story.

Then Martin Short Entered the Picture

When Streep joined Only Murders in the Building, she found herself working alongside another entertainment legend: Martin Short.

Their characters developed a romance on screen.

Then fans began noticing something off screen.

Streep and Short started appearing together outside work. They attended events, went to dinners and were photographed holding hands.

Initially, Short dismissed speculation that they were romantically involved, saying they were friends.

More recent entertainment reports, however, have described them as romantically involved, although Streep and Short themselves have largely avoided making grand public declarations about their private lives.

Whatever label they choose, one thing is obvious:

They genuinely enjoy each other’s company.

And at 76, Streep is even thinking about working with Short again.

In April, she revealed that the two had discussed the possibility of doing something together on Broadway.

Streep’s reaction to the idea was wonderfully simple:

“That would be fun.”

But Her Biggest Role Today Isn’t on a Movie Screen

There’s another part of Meryl Streep’s present life that may surprise fans even more.

She’s a grandmother of six.

And apparently, Meryl Streep the grandmother is very different from Meryl Streep the Hollywood legend.

In a recent interview, she called being a grandmother “divine.”

Streep frequently travels across the country to see her grandchildren, all of whom are still young.

She has also admitted something many grandparents will understand immediately:

She may be a little too involved.

But she doesn’t seem particularly interested in apologizing for it.

After decades spent working at the highest level of Hollywood, Streep now understands something her own mother once knew.

You don’t get time back.

That realization appears to have changed her priorities.

Hollywood Still Isn’t Finished With Her

None of this means Streep has quietly retired.

Quite the opposite.

At 76, she’s still doing something remarkable.

She returned as the formidable Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada 2, bringing back one of the most famous characters of her career more than two decades after the original film.

And she used the moment to make a point about aging.

During the film’s international promotion, Streep spoke about how women can begin to feel invisible as they grow older.

Instead of disappearing, she did the opposite.

She stepped back into the spotlight at 76 with confidence.

And there’s more coming.

Streep is also confirmed to return as a guest star in Season 6 of Only Murders in the Building, which takes the story to London and premieres December 8.

A Very Different Meryl

Perhaps that’s what makes Meryl Streep’s life at 76 so interesting.

The younger Streep was building a career.

She was raising four children.

She was navigating a marriage that lasted for decades.

She was becoming one of the most respected performers Hollywood had ever seen.

Today, the picture looks different.

Her longtime marriage has changed.

Her children are adults.

She’s now surrounded by grandchildren.

She’s enjoying a close relationship with Martin Short while continuing to keep much of her private life private.

And instead of disappearing as Hollywood actresses once were expected to do as they aged, Meryl Streep is still standing at the center of major movies and television.

Maybe that’s the part fans wouldn’t have expected.

At 76, Streep isn’t desperately trying to recreate the life she had at 36 or 46.

She’s living the chapter she’s in now.