Excerpts: Cynthia McFadden Interviews Meryl Streep

Jan. 23, 2009— -- "Nightline" co-anchor Cynthia McFadden sat down with legendary actress Meryl Streep. Nominated for best actress for her performance as Sister Aloysius in "Doubt," Streep talks about her role as an iron-willed nun, explains why she prefers to play difficult women and her true feelings about losing the Oscar in the past, and what her future holds.

The following are excerpts from the interview, which will air Monday, Feb. 2nd on "Nightline" at 11:35 p.m. ET

McFadden: It's award season. Good time of the year for you or bad time of the year for you? I mean, do you still get the little nervous feelings?

Streep: Oh yeah, very very much so. It's very nerve-racking. But you know, there's so much more chatter about it. There's so much more writing about, blogging about it and everybody sort of decides way ahead of when things are decided. You know by the voting thing so that it all gets very hyperbolic.

McFadden: Do you get your feelings hurt if you don't win?

Streep: I feel honestly that I've won my Oscar, you know. I feel validated. But yeah, there's a part of you that thinks every time you do the work as well as you hope you can do it, you get caught up in the thing. … Here's what you get caught up in. When you lose, you think my work wasn't any good. But it's an honor to be nominated, and it is! It is. But you just feel worse when you lose than you did before you got nominated. Ok? I'll say that.

McFadden: The truth! How does the "world's greatest living actress" mantle sit?

Streep: It's completely, honestly, Cynthia, it is meaningless …

McFadden: Meaningless?

Streep: Yeah, because there is no such thing, there is no such thing. There is no such entity.

McFadden: You said you like to play difficult women?

Streep: Yeah, I do.

McFadden: Why?

Streep: Because their contradictions are so vivid and we're all so good at hiding ours. So in the course of a normal day, we all suppress what's hideous and the people that are interesting and sort of the one who just let it hang out.