Meryl Streep first. Jaffee and Hoffman later spoke of Streep's tirelessness, with Hoffman commenting: The film was controversial among feminists, but it was a role which film critic Stephen Farber believed displayed Streep's "own emotional intensity", writing that she was one of the "rare performers who can imbue the most routine moments with a hint of mystery". For "Kramer vs. Kramer", Streep won both the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, which she famously left in the ladies room after giving her speech. She was also awarded the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting
Meryl Streep portrayed the female character as "too evil" and insisted that it was not representative of real women who faced marriage breakdown and child custody battles. The makers agreed with her, and the script was revised. In preparing for the part, Streep spoke to her own mother about her life as a wife with a career, and frequented the Upper East Side neighborhood in which the film was set, watching the interactions between parents and children. The director Robert Benton allowed Streep to write her own dialogue in two key scenes, despite some objection from Hoffman, who "hated her guts" at