Yesterday, Meryl has (finally) been a guest at the UMass Lowell’s Chancellor’s Speaker Series. Her appearance was originally planned for February 05, but got postponed. She answered questions, reflected on her storied career, offered advice for breaking into films, posed for countless photos, pulled an April Fools’ prank before a crowd of 3,600 and raised more than $230,000 for scholarships. Pictures from the event have been added to the image library. Scroll down for more information and a video. Edit: Pictures from the Q&A, which took place before the evening’s conversation, have been added as well.

Streep held court before a capacity crowd at the Tsongas Center in an event billed as “A Conversation with Meryl Streep” that was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Andre Dubus III. Earlier in the day, she held an hourlong question-and-answer session with 100 English and Theater Arts students at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, touching on subjects from how she prepares for roles to how she got her start as an actress. By turns witty, thoughtful and quick, she held her audience rapt as she discussed her career. Dubus, a New York Times bestselling author, wanted to know how she is able to disappear into her roles. “Acting is a very mysterious craft,” Streep said. “The (actors) I admire, I have no idea how they achieve what they do. When you are working with them there’s a seamless exchange of thought, emotion and physicality. You can’t parse it when you are in the moment.” UMass Lowell has posted a video with highlights from the conversation, which can be watched in the video archive.

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