Inside Cher And Meryl Streep's Longtime Friendship

Hollywood's rich history of iconic superstar friendships is treasured and beloved — and they don't come much more star-studded than timeless talents Meryl Streep and Cher. While their close friendship might not be as well publicized as Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's or Brad Pitt and George Clooney's, both Streep and Cher are titans of the stage and screen with a bond that has lasted over four decades.

The screen legends first met on the set of the 1983 drama "Silkwood," in which Streep played Karen Silkwood, a real-life union activist and nuclear whistle-blower, and Cher starred as Karen's best friend, Dolly Pelliker. During a recent appearance on "The Jennifer Hudson Show" in March 2024, Cher reflected on how nervous she was to act alongside Streep. "I was packing my bag, and then I started unpacking it, and my sister kept packing it," Cher recalled. "I went, 'I cannot go make a movie with Meryl Streep, okay?'"

By the time they were shooting "Silkwood," Streep had already won two Oscars for "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Sophie's Choice," and she had been nominated for two others — so, Cher's nerves were understandable. However, the famed songstress (and iconic Twitterer) said her first impression changed everything. "I get to Texas, and a woman comes at me with wide, white hair and a white dress. She puts her arms around me, and she says, 'I'm so glad you're here,' and it was her," Cher recalled. "From then on, we were joined at the hip. We've been friends all this time."

For their stellar work in "Silkwood," both Meryl Streep and Cher were nominated for Oscars, and they forged a connection that would remain unbreakable for years – even when they were in direct competition at the Oscars a few years later. In 1988, Streep was nominated for best actress for her role in "Ironweed," but Cher took home the Oscar for her performance in "Moonstruck." When her name was called, an exuberant Streep was the first of her fellow nominees to leap to their feet and cheer for the first-time winner.

In 2018, a full 35 years after "Silkwood" hit theaters, Cher and Streep shared the screen for the same time once again in "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again." Hilariously, Cher was cast to play Ruby, the mother to Streep's character, Donna, despite being only three years older than Streep in real life. However, in a moment that mirrored their first meeting decades earlier, even the very first day of shooting felt loving and supportive, according to Streep. "It was fantastic... I came on the set the day that she sang 'Fernando.' That was my first day," Streep told Entertainment Tonight at the film's London premiere in July 2018. "And she just lifted the lid off the place! I mean, she steals the movie!"