Meryl Streep receives the Cannes Palm of Honor at the 2024 Festival

Meryl Streep

Leon Bennett/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images

Meryl Streep will receive an honorary Palme d’Or at the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival on May 14, organizers said Thursday.

The Hollywood star – who earned the Best Actress award at Cannes in 1989 for her role in Fred Schepsi’s Evil angels — will help kick off the 77th edition at the Grand Theater Lumiere.

“I am extremely honored by the news of this prestigious award. Winning an award at Cannes, in front of the international community of artists, has always been the highest achievement in the art of filmmaking. Standing in the shadow of those who have been honored before is both humbling and exhilarating. I’m so looking forward to coming to France in May to thank everyone personally!” Streep said in a statement.

She returns to the French festival after a celebrated career in Hollywood spanning more than five decades. “We all have a bit of Meryl Streep in us! We all have something within us Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, Out of Africa, The Bridges of Madison County, The Devil Wears Prada And Mama Mia! Having spanned nearly 50 years of cinema and embodied countless masterpieces, Meryl Streep is part of our collective imagination, our shared love of cinema.” Festival heads Iris Knobloch and Thierry Frémaux said this in a joint statement in Cannes.

Streep will help open Cannes and book a festival that will conclude on May 25 with prizes awarded by an official jury led by President Greta Gerwig.

Previous winners of the Cannes Palm of Honor include Jeanne Moreau, Marco Bellocchio, Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Jane Fonda, Agnès Varda, Forest Whitaker and Jodie Foster.