VIDEO Meryl Streep teams up with Katie Couric for colorectal screening PSA

Legendary actress Meryl Streep is renowned for her award-winning performances, giving her best with each new role she takes on. This dedication to craft was no different when the 63-year-old joined forces with Katie Couric’s cancer-research foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to star in a new public service announcement advocating early screening for colorectal cancer.

This wasn’t just a pitch-in for Katie either, this is a subject Streep is passionate and rather persistent about.

“I made my husband get screened, I made my brothers get screened…I made everyone I love get screened. It’s important to get the word out; people should know how easy it is to go through the procedure that can detect polyps and early cancer.”

Couric, who co-founded the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance after losing husband Jay Monahan to colon cancer in 1998, was excited to have such an esteemed talent on board. She said of Streep, “‘Icon’ is overused, but Meryl Streep truly is an American—and worldwide—icon. She is an ideal ambassador to convey that screening saves lives, and we are profoundly grateful for her support.”

To find out more about the deadly, but often preventable disease if detected early enough, check out Katie’s foundation here.