HBO’s 2003 adaptation of Tony Kushner’s masterpiece wasn’t just a "TV show." It was an earthquake. When Mike Nichols decided to bring the Pulitzer-winning play to the small screen, people were skeptical. How do you take seven hours of dense, hallucinatory, political theater and make it work for a home audience? You hire the best. Honestly, seeing Al Pacino and Meryl Streep share a screen back then was like watching two planets collide. But Meryl Streep Angels in America is the specific performance—or rather, the four performances—that people still talk about today.
She didn't just play a part. She inhabited a whole world.
The Four Faces of Meryl
Most actors are happy to land one meaty role in a prestige miniseries. Meryl took four. And we're not talking about subtle variations; we’re talking about a transformation so total that most viewers didn't even realize it was her until the credits rolled.
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- Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz: This is the big one. The series opens with an ancient, bearded Orthodox rabbi delivering a funeral eulogy. The voice is wheezy, the skin is papery, and the eyes are heavy with a thousand years of Jewish history. It’s Meryl. There’s a famous story from the set where Maurice Sendak spent an entire day sitting next to "the old man" on a bench, having no clue he was sitting next to Meryl Streep until she stood up and spoke in her normal voice.
- Hannah Pitt: The stoic, repressed Mormon mother who travels from Salt Lake City to New York to save her son. This is the emotional anchor. Hannah starts as a woman of rigid faith and ends as a person of profound, unexpected grace.
- Ethel Rosenberg: The ghost of the executed Communist spy. She shows up to haunt Al Pacino’s Roy Cohn as he dies of AIDS. The chemistry here is electric. It’s dark, it’s funny, and it’s deeply uncomfortable.
- The Angel Australia: One of the Continental Principalities in the Council of Angels. A smaller, more ethereal role, but it rounds out the supernatural "fantasia" of the story.
Why Meryl Streep Angels in America Still Matters
The miniseries landed at a time when "Prestige TV" was still a new concept. Before Angels, movie stars of Streep’s caliber didn't really do television. It was considered a step down. But Nichols and Kushner changed the math. They proved that you could do high-art, big-budget storytelling on a cable network.
Streep’s work as Hannah Pitt is arguably the most important of the bunch. While the Rabbi is a feat of makeup and the Ghost of Ethel is a feat of wit, Hannah is a feat of heart. When she encounters a homeless woman (played by Emma Thompson) in a Bronx subway station, or when she eventually finds herself caring for Prior Walter, we see the walls of her world-view crumble. It’s messy. It’s human.
Basically, she makes the "unsympathetic" character the one you want to hug.
The Chemistry with Al Pacino
You've got Al Pacino playing Roy Cohn—a man who is essentially a walking volcano of rage and denial. Put him in a room with Meryl Streep’s Ethel Rosenberg, and it’s a masterclass. Ethel doesn't scream. She sits at the foot of his bed and watches him rot. She even helps him say the Kaddish at the end. It’s a moment of mercy that feels earned because of how much they clearly despise each other.
Awards and a Cultural Shift
The 2004 Emmys were essentially an Angels in America victory lap. The show swept every major category it was nominated for. Meryl took home the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress, and Pacino took Lead Actor. It tied the record at the time for the most Emmy wins by a single program.
But beyond the trophies, it changed how we talk about the 1980s. It wasn't just a "gay play" or an "AIDS movie." It was a story about the soul of America. Streep’s presence gave it a weight that forced people to pay attention, even those who might have otherwise turned away from the subject matter.
How to Watch it Today
If you haven't seen it, you're missing out on a piece of history. It's currently streaming on Max (formerly HBO Max).
- Watch for the transitions: Notice how Meryl shifts her posture between characters.
- The Funeral Scene: Rewatch the opening of Episode 1. Knowing it's Meryl under that beard makes the Rabbi's speech about "the Great Voyages" even more impressive.
- The Second Half: Some critics think Perestroika (the second half) gets a bit too weird with the angels, but Meryl’s scenes keep it grounded.
The best way to appreciate what she did is to watch it in two three-hour sittings. Don't rush it. Let the language wash over you. It's a heavy lift, but man, it's worth it.
Next Steps for the Super-Fan: If you want to go deeper into the "Meryl Method," look for the 2004 PBS American Masters episode on Mike Nichols. She talks extensively about how Nichols pushed her to find the humor in Ethel Rosenberg and the hidden warmth in Hannah Pitt. Also, check out the original play scripts by Tony Kushner; seeing how he wrote the "doubling" of roles makes Streep’s execution feel even more like a magic trick.