The Homesman features Meryl Streep.
Mary Louise `` Meryl '' Streep ( born June 22 , 1949 ) is an American actress and philanthropist . The Homesman is a 2014 French-American historical period drama set in the 1850s Midwest , directed and co-produced by Tommy Lee Jones and co-written with Kieran Fitzgerald and Wesley Oliver , based on the 1988 novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout . The film stars Jones and Hilary Swank and also features Meryl Streep , Hailee Steinfeld , John Lithgow , and James Spader .