Laurie Metcalf Is So Good in Broadway's “Death of a Salesman”, Meryl Streep Wants to Retire from Acting (Exclusive)

Dave QuinnSat, May 30, 2026 at 2:30 PM UTC

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Laruie Metcalf at the 2026 Tony Awards 'Meet the Nominees' event on May 14, 2026
Credit: Jemal Countess/Getty -

Laurie Metcalf opens up to PEOPLE about why she never watches plays she might one day star in, saying it helped her find a fresh take on Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman

The 2026 Tony Award nominee says she sees Linda not as a "doormat" but as a key force in the play's tragedy, helping shape her acclaimed performance

When she's not onstage, Metcalf unwinds with reality TV, calling it a way to study "human behavior at its rawest"

If Meryl Streep retires from acting, we have Laurie Metcalf to blame.

Back in April, the three-time Oscar winner joked to PEOPLE that after seeing Metcalf in the Broadway revival Death of a Salesman, she was ready to hang up her boots.

"I don't know how to act. ... When I see people do it, I think, 'How did she do that?' " Streep said, noting she had just attended a performance of director Joe Mantello's production of the Arthur Miller classic. "I can't believe Laurie Metcalf. And I thought, 'I better just retire, because I don't know how the f--- she did that.' "

"What an artist," she added. "What an artist."

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It's hard to imagine higher praise. But in Metcalf's case, it's earned.

Over the course of a career that has spanned stage, television and film, the two-time Tony Award-winner and four-time Emmy Award-winning actress has built a reputation for revealing unexpected depths in characters audiences thought they already understood. Her performances are so specific, so deeply observed and so unmistakably human that they can make even the most familiar roles feel entirely new.

That's certainly what she's doing in Death of a Salesman.

As Linda Loman, the steadfast wife who spends much of Arthur Miller's classic trying to hold together a family crumbling under the weight of disappointment, denial and dashed dreams, Metcalf has found fresh layers in a character often overshadowed by the tragedy unfolding around her.

Laurie Metcalf and Nathan Lane in 'Death of a Salesman'
Credit: Emilio Madrid

Rather than portraying Linda as a passive bystander to the unraveling of her husband Willy (played by Nathan Lane), Metcalf sees her as a fully engaged participant in the family's struggles — a woman whose love, loyalty and practicality make her far more complicated than the long-suffering wife she's often remembered as.

"I didn't know what to expect of Linda Loman," Metcalf, 70, tells PEOPLE. "I had always heard... Oh, she's just ... I don't want to say doormat, but that's what I heard."

That interpretation never sat quite right with the actress. Instead, Metcalf began asking herself a different question.

"How can Linda be a functioning really true partner for Willy if she was merely standing on the sidelines?" the actress recalls wondering as she dug into the script.

Laurie Metcalf, Chris Abbott, Ben Ahlers and Nathan Lane in 'Death of a Salesman' on Broadway
Credit: Emilio Madrid

The answer led her to a realization that changed the role entirely.

"She's actually the catalyst that sets things in motion," says Metcalf. "I had never really, in thinking of the story, thought of her in that way as being the one who starts the ball of doom rolling towards the end."

It's a reading of the character that helps explain why Metcalf's Linda feels so different from many that have come before her. The actress sees a woman whose fierce devotion to her husband isn't just admirable — it's also, at times, enabling.

"I guess you can be that kind of person to a fault where you are enabling them to tell lies to themselves," she says. "That's why I know she's definitely doing that with Willy."

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Laurie Metcalf at the 2026 Drama League Awards
Credit: Bruce Glikas/WireImage

Metcalf believes she was able to arrive at that interpretation in part because she came to the role without another actor's performance lingering in her mind.

That's by design. Metcalf says she has long avoided seeing productions she might one day star in herself, preferring to approach a script with as few preconceived notions as possible.

"Yeah, that's been my MO," she says with a laugh. "I'm running out of them now, but I'm so glad I never did, honestly, because I didn't want to have anybody's version in my head because it's too hard to shake. You're just always going to remember it a certain way."

Without another actor’s interpretation lingering in her mind, Metcalf says she felt “more free to just go anywhere” within Miller’s script.

Critics and audiences noticed. Her work in Death of a Salesman earned her rare reviews, and a 2026 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play. It's one of nine nominations the production received, including Best Revival of Play and a Best Actor nomination for Lane.

Laurie Metcalf and Nathan Lane in 'Death of a Salesman' on Broadway
Credit: Emilio Madrid

Death of a Salesman marks one half of an unusually busy year for Metcalf, who also drew acclaim for her performance in Broadway's Samuel D. Hunter's Little Bear Ridge Road and appeared in Netflix's Big Mistakes.

"I probably bit off a little more than I could chew this year," she laughs. "But I feel very lucky. It's rare that one great part comes along in one year, let alone this many. And Linda is actually a bucket list role. So I'm thrilled to be playing her."

What Metcalf is not thrilled about? The physical demands of doing the three-hour play during its eight-show weeks, especially on two-show days.

“All of us are pretty wiped out by the end,” Metcalf says. “It's been a long time since I've done a play, even with an intermission. I've been spoiled.”

Laurie Metcalf and Dan Levy in 'Big Mistakes'
Credit: Spencer Pazer/Netflix

Still, the actress has found a surprisingly fitting way to decompress after performances: reality television. In particular, she’s become “deep” into Survivor — not just for entertainment, but because she sees it as an unexpected acting study.

“Reality TV to me is more like studying human behavior at its rawest,” she explains. “Those people, I don't know how they do it, but they forget the camera's there and they are just being themselves. That's what I find fascinating.”

For Metcalf, who has spent decades building some of the most acclaimed stage performances of her generation, those unguarded moments can reveal truths scripted material sometimes cannot.

“I like the contests and the eliminations and all that,” she says. “But I like watching the behavior. That's where I learn the most.”

Death of a Salesman closes Aug. 9 at the Winter Garden Theatre. From there, Metcalf will head back to set, to film season 2 of Big Mistakes.

But first comes the 2026 Tony Awards, where one of theater’s most singular performers may once again find herself recognized for work that refuses to look — or feel — like anyone else’s.

No matter what, though, Metcalf is already a winner after that Streep remark. "It doesn't get more flattering than that, it doesn't," she said on Live with Kelly and Mark on Friday, May 29. "That is the ultimate compliment I've ever received in my life."

Tickets for Death of a Salesman are on sale now. The 2026 Tony Awards will take place at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 7. The show will be broadcast live to both coasts on CBS (beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT), and will stream on Paramount+.

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