UNITED STATES (REUTERS) - Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep spoke out about her own experiences with violence at an annual award show by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Wednesday (Nov 15).

"The two times in my life when I was threatened and dealt with real physical violence," Streep said at the podium.

"I learned something about life that I wouldn't have known otherwise and I was lucky because my instincts served me well. In one instance, I played dead and waited until the blows stopped, watching like people say you do from like 50 feet above where I was beaten and in the second instance, someone else was being abused and I just went completely nuts and went after this man.

"Ask Cher. She was there. And the thug ran away. It was a miracle. But I was changed by these events on a cellular level," she added.

Cher described the incidence in full in a 2013 Reddit by Cher entitled Ask Me Anything.

Cher and Streep co-starred in the 1983 film Silkwood.

Streep went on to praise the journalists at the event for their contributions to society but also highlighted journalism in Mexico where she said five journalists had been murdered in 2017.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is an organization which protects the rights of journalists and promotes freedom of the press.