Streep: Do you see that anyone will have a career like Karl Lagerfeld’s—
Wintour: Yes!
Streep: That same longevity and influence?
Wintour: I do, I really do. I feel Matthieu has found the job of his dreams. The owners of Chanel—Alain and Gérard Wertheimer—are very patient. And they’ve always found that balance between tradition and an openness to change. That was the magic of Karl, who knew history so completely but also had curiosity and restlessness and was an extraordinary multitasker. I think Matthieu has the same vitality and cultural awareness and could be—who knows?—there as long as Karl.
Gerwig: There’s always the question, especially with women, of children and work and how that goes together. And I got very excited thinking of interviewing you because nobody asks about being a grandmother. So, I mean, Meryl, I know you are incredibly involved—
Streep: Some say over-involved.
Gerwig: How does being a grandmother balance with work?
Streep: It’s just grabbing seconds, just grabbing everything you can of them, with the knowledge of how completely fleeting it all is and how rapidly time goes. This is what my mother said to me, and I said, “Yeah, yeah.” It’s the longest, shortest time. And you can’t get anything back. So take as much as you can…. I find it divine. I have six grandchildren, six under six. They’re six, five, four, three, two, and one. I hope we’re not done, but we’ll see. I can’t even talk about how much it means to me that my kids give me as much time as they do with their kids. The only thing is that they’re on two coasts, so I’m in the airplane a lot.
Gerwig: And you, Anna, also have grandchildren.
Wintour: I don’t have as many as Meryl. I only have four, and I have four step-grandchildren that grew up all around us. Being a mother when you have the jobs that we have—you have to make the time. I was relentless about going to the games and turning up at the parent-teacher meetings, being there when it was important. I felt like Vogue could always wait and that it’s okay to be a busy mother. You make it work. We have a family compound on Long Island, and I try to make it a center for all of us, who are spread all over the world. We love to celebrate birthdays and weddings; traditions are important—we’re English, so we constantly play games and stage countless tennis tournaments—and we try to take care of each other through thick and thin. I try to instill in my children and my grandchildren that it’s family that counts and family who will give you love and support. If you have that, everything else will be fine.
Gerwig: Meryl, you said something to me that has rattled around in my head. You said, “Life begins when you make a commitment,” and I thought that that was such a wise thing to say. Obviously when you have a family that’s the biggest commitment, but I think for both of you in your work, you’ve made a commitment to your respective fields.
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