Meryl Streep: 'I had second thoughts about Margaret Thatcher role'

Meryl Streep has confessed that she doubted her ability to portray Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

The actress, who has said that she accepted the part without hesitation, revealed that the enormity of her task dawned on her once the cameras started rolling.

"I was so freaked out. But sometimes a bath of fire is good - when it's terrifying and hard and ridiculous - that's good," Streep recalled in an interview with The Independent.

"Sometimes I got hysterical and lost my mind and thought, 'I don't think I can do this.' [Director Phyllida Lloyd] would say, 'Yes you can'... It's good to be nervous, insecure - that's a very good thing. I mean, it's horrible, but it's the thing that enables you to understand weakness. And often you need to know what that is."

Streep also credited her Iron Lady castmates with helping to encourage her through the more challenging aspects of the project, adding: "I got on a plane and I had not 'done' her. So day one was a bit not great, but there were all these splendid English actors at Pinewood [Studios] and you've got to love other actors - they gave me my belief. And you really have to believe, right to the soles of your feet."

Earlier this month, Streep said that she believes The Iron Lady was able to accurately display Margaret Thatcher's "humanity".

> Iron Lady Meryl Streep "in awe" of Margaret Thatcher

Watch a Digital Spy featurette of The Iron Lady below: