Meet Meryl Streep And Don Gummer's 4 Kids

Meryl Streep is a celebrated actor, but even her most diehard fans didn't get a front-row seat to her children's lives. This decision was deliberate, as Streep and Don Gummer raised their kids away from the spotlight. The actor discussed this decision in an interview with Good Housekeeping in 2008, noting how Robert Redford's comments had inspired her choice.

Redford's lesson was simple: "'They are not your props,'" Streep recalled him saying. "I really admired the way he protected his family. It's something I consciously emulated." The media didn't hound Streep's kids, but they were still exposed to the entertainment industry from a young age. In an interview with Working Mother (via Women Working), she further discussed balancing motherhood with her work. "I was lucky that I married a good man because that made it so much easier to be able to work, even though I would take my children on the set with me when they were very young," Streep said.

Her third child, daughter Grace Gummer, has positive memories of this time, at least according to Julia Roberts. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Roberts recalled a conversation with Gummer about having a famous mom. "I asked, 'How old were you when you realized your mom was Meryl Streep?' She said, 'I think I was probably 9 when I put that all together.' I said, 'Were you cool with it?' She said, 'Yeah, it was fine. There was no trauma.'"