Meryl Streep tells Maggie film fans waiting in rain to go home and have a cuppa

Having perfected her role as Margaret Thatcher on the big screen, Meryl Streep now appears to be adopting the former Prime Minister's bossy tone.

As she greeted fans who had patiently waited in the rain at the premiere of The Iron Lady in London, she ordered them: "Go home and have some tea."

The American actress even adopted the English trait of talking about the weather. As she left the BFI Southbank, she told the crowd: "I love this weather, it's like good New York weather."

Streep, 62, was wrapped up warm for the night in a long black dress and a large blue winter coat.
Hundreds braved the conditions to catch a glimpse of the actress, who was joined on a Tory-blue carpet by co-stars Jim Broadbent, Richard E Grant and Anthony Head.

Grant, who plays Baroness Thatcher's great foe Michael Heseltine, said Streep - hotly tipped to win another Oscar - was "the greatest actor in my lifetime". He added: "The chance to be in a film with her, with however small a part, was worth walking over hot coals for."

Members of the first-night audience said Streep was perfect in the role.

Phoebe Finn said: "She totally inhabited the character and brought her to life. I've never seen such an incredible performance." Leon Ockenden said: "Her transformation is amazing. Go and put as much money as you have on her winning an Oscar."

But amid the praise for Streep, there were harsh words from some of the film's stars for Mrs T, now 86.

Broadbent, who plays her late husband Denis, said: "It wasn't the saddest day of my life when she resigned."

And Head, asked if he was a fan of hers, replied: "No. She hated the entertainment industry and ruined my union and everybody's else's."

But he added: "The film is not about whether she's a good or bad person, it's about someone who courts power."

Many Lady Thatcher admirers believe the film - on general release from January 13 - is insensitive and should not have been made while she lives.
Lord Hurd, her former foreign secretary, condemned it as "ghoulish".

And director Phyllida Lloyd revealed the Thatcher family snubbed an invitation to see it. She said: "I quite understand. They probably want to watch it in the privacy of their home."