Meryl Streep is one of the most accomplished actresses in today's age, with 21 Academy Award nominations and three wins. Some of her most critically acclaimed performances were in the 2011 film The Iron Lady, for her portrayal of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and her Academy Award-winning lead role as Holocaust survivor Zofia Zawistowski in the 1982 film Sophie's Choice.
Streep, whose legal first name is Mary Louise, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Linda in the war drama The Deer Hunter around the same time she starred alongside Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman and Streep played divorced parents in the Best Picture winner Kramer vs. Kramer. The 1979 legal drama depicted the troubled relationship between Streep and Hoffman's characters, Joanna and Ted. Like their characters, Streep and Hoffman also had a strained relationship when the cameras shut off.
In the opening scenes of Kramer vs. Kramer, Joanna suddenly walked out on Ted and their seven-year-old son Billy, played by future Sixteen Candles star Justin Henry. The father and son duo learned to adapt without her and eventually bonded after initial issues, like Ted's lack of time for Billy due to his increased hours at work. After a 15-month absence, Joanna showed up and demanded custody of Billy, a proposal Ted strongly opposed.
Joanna and Ted battled it out in court regarding who their son was going to live with. The court eventually ruled in Joanna's favor, and young Billy was distraught at the outcome. When Joanna came by to move Billy into her home, she unexpectedly backed out and decided to leave Billy with his father. Throughout the vicious custody battle, Hoffman fired several shots at Streep, both on and off-camera.
While filming one of the couple's intense arguments, Hoffman reportedly slapped Streep, which was entirely improvised. In a 2018 interview with The New York Times, Streep talked about the incident and said Hoffman was "overstepping" for his violent behavior. The scene in the restaurant where Ted threw a wine glass off the table in front of Joanna was also allegedly improvised. But Hoffman didn't stop at physical violence.
Streep dated The Godfather actor John Cazale, who played Fredo Corleone, the second child of Vito Corleone, for two years before he died from lung cancer in 1978. Unfortunately, method actor Hoffman took this as an opportunity to make Streep realistically upset for the film. Producer Richard Fischoff recalled to Vanity Fair how Hoffman would "goad and provoke" her about the tragic matter. According to Erin Carlson's book Queen Meryl, Hoffman even whispered her deceased boyfriend's name before the emotionally heavy courtroom scene began.
Hoffman tearfully blamed his inappropriate on-set behavior on his real-life divorce and "partying with drugs," per his speech at the British Academy of Film & Television Arts in 2017. It's unclear if the actors made up or not recently, but several years before Hoffman's speech, Streep appeared on a 2013 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, where Streep selected Hoffman as the "kill" response in a game of "Shag, Marry, Kill." Despite their feud, both actors have had major successes after Kramer vs. Kramer, like Streep's role in the 2021 film Don't Look Up.