Meryl Streep may be considered one of the finest actresses around, yet she believed her career was over 20 years ago.

Streep, now 62, tells Vogue magazine she was offered three different roles to play a witch after turning 40.

She said she believed it meant women in her age group were "grotesque on some level" and told her husband: "It's over."

Streep graces the January cover of Vogue magazine for the first time and jokes in the magazine that she is the "oldest person" to do so.

Next, she plays the former prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the new film, Iron Lady. She portrays Mrs Thatcher from the age of 49 to 85.

The January issue of Vogue goes on sale on December 20.