It seems like all Meryl Streep has to do is sneeze on-screen to get an Oscar nomination. But then, that sneeze would probably be utterly amazing. Since she first hit movie screens in 1977's Julia, stealing focus from Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave, she has been a force to reckon with every year during awards season. She landed the first of her record 18 Oscar nominations two years later for The Deer Hunter, then won her first Oscar a year after that for Kramer vs Kramer.

August Osage CountyMeryl Streep [center[ in August: Osage County

Over the next 35 years, she has won two more times: in 1983 for Sophie's Choice and, after a very long wait, in 2012 for The Iron Lady. And the longest gap between nominations was the five years between 1991's Postcards From the Edge and 1996's The Bridges of Madison County. 

Frankly, an Oscar ceremony without Streep seems almost pointless, because her sparkling, unfussy style of talking livens up the endless sincere back-patting. Thankfully, she continues to be loved by voters. Her scene-levelling performance in August: Osage County was impossible for Oscar to ignore, even if they'll probably decide that the nomination is enough this time. Read our August: Osage County review.

August Osage CountyJulia Roberts [L], Ewan McGregor [cente] and Meryl Streep [R] in 'August: Osage County'

And she has three films coming out in the next year: the gritty Western The Homesman costarring Tommy Lee Jones and her daughter Grace Gummer, the dystopic fantasy The Giver with Alexander Skarsgard and Jeff Bridges, and the all-star adaptation of Sondheim's musical Into the Woods, in which she has another chance to steal a movie - she plays the wicked witch.

Watch the trailer for August: Osage County: