Meryl Streep Almost Wasn’t Cast In The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada’s Miranda Priestly is one of the defining roles of Meryl Streep’s career — but she almost missed out on playing the famed character.

One of the film’s producers, Wendy Finerman, appeared on the Dec. 6 episode of the Hollywood Gold podcast and revealed that “people thought we were crazy” when they put forward Streep’s name for the role of Priestly.

“People would say ‘Are you out of your mind? She’s never been funny a day in her life,’” Finerman continued. “She has been funny and they were wrong,” she added, highlighting her performance in Death Becomes Her as an example.

“This was clearly a different kind of role for her,” Finerman said of Streep’s casting. “I think that was part of the fun.”

Streep’s portrayal of the fictional Runway magazine editor-in-chief is said to be inspired by Vogue’s Anna Wintour and earned her a Best Actress nomination at the 2007 Academy Awards.

Meryl’s Body Double

Finerman went on to recall an on-set incident involving Streep’s Devil Wears Prada body double on the Hollywood Gold podcast.

“We were shooting Meryl’s double in Paris,” she remembered. “But the outfit somehow didn’t make it in the wardrobe shipment.”

In what was a total Miranda Priestly move, Finerman then instructed her assistant to fly Streep’s outfit from New York City to the French capital. “Go pack your bags, you’re going to Paris,” she told the staffer.

Working With Streep

Emily Blunt, who played snobby first assistant Emily Charlton in The Devil Wears Prada, recalled working with Streep during a Jun. 2023 episode of Variety’s Actors on Actors.

While Blunt lauded Streep as “amazing,” she also revealed that starring opposite the three-time Oscar winner was “slightly terrifying.”

Streep also left quite an impression on her Devil Wears Prada co-star Anne Hathaway, who played Andrea Sachs in the 2006 drama.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight in Oct. 2023 about the possibility of reuniting with Streep onscreen, Hathaway replied: “Oh my gosh, I would love that. I wish. I wish. I wish. She’s very busy.”

Meanwhile, during a reunion interview marking the film’s 15th anniversary in 2021, Streep said method acting on the Devil Wears Prada set was a “horrible” experience.

“I was so depressed,” Streep continued. “I said, ‘Well, it’s the price you pay for being boss!’ That’s the last time I ever attempted a method thing.”