Pop quiz: Over the past three years, which A-list actress has become a potent force at the box office, starring in films that have taken in more than $1.1 billion worldwide? Is it Angelina Jolie? Kate Winslet? Or Sandra Bullock? Need a hint? She turned 60 in June. Yes, Meryl Streep, she of the multitudes of Oscar nominations, has for the first time in her career become genuinely popular, at a time when most of her female peers have been shoved into quasi-retirement, and even younger male cohorts, like Kevin Costner and Bruce Willis, are shedding commercial viability as fast as their hair.

The woman, once famed for playing a suffering Holocaust victim (Sophie’s Choice) and chilly ex-wives (Manhattan and Kramer vs. Kramer) is now best known to audiences of all ages for eating young fashion assistants for breakfast in The Devil Wears Prada, enthusiastically jumping up and down on a bed, wearing overalls and singing Abba tunes in $600 million smash hit Mamma Mia, and trilling happily in Julia Child’s distinctive voice in this summer’s Julie & Julia.

It’s been a grim year for the A-list. Many recent expensive star vehicles have fizzled at the box office, including Adam Sandler’s Funny People, Will Ferrell’s Land of the Lost, Russell Crowe’s State of Play and The Taking of Pelham 123, which starred John Travolta and Denzel Washington. Even Julia Robert’s Duplicity failed to connect with moviegoers. And now, for the first time in two decades, the industry is seriously re-evaluating movie-star worth and applying downward pressure to actor paydays.

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