Everyone would agree that Meryl Streep has played a lot of important roles in various movies. She was Joanna in Kramer vs. Kramer, she was also the desperate mother in Sophie’s Choice. But there is one role she is most famous for, and that is her brilliant act in The Devil Wears Prada. We all knew Meryl as Miranda Priestly. Whatever your opinion about the movie is, we can all agree Streep has shown pure talent in her role. However, did you know that this performance completely drained her? On top of that, Streep thinks her performance as Miranda Priestly was so bad that she decided to change the course of her entire career! What could have happened in the movie?
How “The Devil Wears Prada” Changed Meryl Streep’s Life
Rare Role For Her
Miranda Priestly is fascinating, hilarious, and well-respected in her industry but you should avoid her at all costs. She is one of Meryl’s rare antagonist roles. Do you remember how she made Andy’s life a living hell in the movie? Well, she has a real-life model too. Read more to find out the real person behind this character.
Rare Role For Her
Taking The Character In A Different Direction
Yes, the actual Priestley is Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who is widely regarded as one of the most influential women in the fashion industry. Lauren Weisberger was inspired to write the book on which the film is based by her past experiences working as Wintour’s assistant. Streep, on the other hand, went in the opposite route with the role.
Taking The Character In A Different Direction
A Different Take
During an Entertainment Weekly cast reunion in 2021, Streep dropped the goods. “I wasn’t interested in doing a biography on Anna,” she recalled. Her position in her firm piqued my curiosity. I wanted to take on the hardships she had to bear, as well as the pressure of wanting to appear great every day.”
A Different Take
A Terrifying Role
Oh, and the producers were worried about inciting Wintour’s fury. People in the editor’s entourage abandoned The Devil Wears Prada as soon as the plot was revealed. “I had huge problems finding anyone in the fashion business who’d talk to me,” screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna told Entertainment Weekly, “because people were frightened of Anna and Vogue – not wanting to be blackballed.”
A Terrifying Role
Too Nice
“There was one individual who spoke to me, whose name I will never reveal, who read it and remarked, ‘The people in this movie are too lovely,” she added. Nobody in the world is overly polite. They don’t have to be, and they don’t have time to be.’ I then did a pass to make everyone busier and meaner.”
Too Nice
Everyone’s Scared Of Her
The adjective that sprang to mind was “meaner,” as writer Plum Sykes remarked about Wintour in the BBC documentary Boss Woman in 2000. Everyone is terrified of her. “She’s a frightening lady because she is so amazing,” she said, “but I know that if I walked into her office, I would need to wear high heels and appear groomed and ‘fashionable.'”
Everyone’s Scared Of Her
Everyone Wanted To Please Her
“You just knew the individuals who worked at Vogue were serious and professional,” model Gisele Bündchen, who portrayed Serena in the film, told Entertainment Weekly about the reunion. Everyone wanted to satisfy Anna, who had the last say…but that’s true for everything. Who doesn’t want to make their employer happy? That may have been the movie’s slogan.
Everyone Wanted To Please Her
She Wasn’t Offended
However, Anna Wintour claims that the film did not bother her when it was initially released. “Anything that makes fashion fun, attractive, and intriguing is good for our profession,” the fierce editor said to ABC News in 2006. So I was all behind it.”
She Wasn’t Offended
She Watched The Screening
Wintour saw the film during a screening in May 2006. McKenna told Entertainment Weekly that “Anna came to the first showing in New York.” She sat right in front of me and David [Frankel] with her kid and was dressed in Prada, proving she has a terrific sense of humor! ”
She Watched The Screening
She Liked Streep’s Portrayal
Wintour approved of Streep’s portrayal of the character based on her. “I believe it’s advantageous to individuals you’re working with, that you can make judgments,” she told ABC News. So, if Meryl appeared to be fairly forceful, I respect that.” But what did Streep make of it?
She Liked Streep’s Portrayal
Interesting Take
Streep had a lot to say in the Entertainment Weekly cast reunion piece. Miranda Priestley was a nasty, albeit fascinating, individual, and she had some intriguing opinions about her. “Absolute authority corrupts utterly,” she wondered. I admired how she didn’t shy away from the worst aspects of herself.”
Interesting Take
She Helped Out Anne Hathaway
Streep, it turns out, was helpful in the hiring of Anne Hathaway as Andy, the unhappy assistant. Although Hathaway was yearning for the role, the studio remained dubious. They didn’t want Hathaway since she was recognized for more kid-friendly stuff. Rachel McAdams was offered the role three times but turned it down each time.
She Helped Out Anne Hathaway
She Was Great
“Brokeback Mountain was about to come out,” director David Frankel told Entertainment Weekly. Annie played a beautiful, little role in it. And after seeing that sequence in the film, Meryl met with her and contacted Tom Rothman at Fox, saying, ‘Yeah, this girl’s wonderful, and I believe we’ll work well together.'”
She Was Great
Overjoyed
Hathaway was overjoyed when she was cast in the role. “I remember the minute I found out I won the part, I went screaming through my apartment,” she told the tabloid. I had many people here at the time, and I simply leaped up in the living room and said, “I’m going to be in The Devil Wears Prada!” ‘” Of course, she owed it to her co-star.
Overjoyed
White Hair
Streep also convinced the studio to let Miranda Priestley wear her hair white. According to Patricia Field, the costume designer, “Meryl told me she [wanted] to have white hair… I told Meryl, ‘I can’t convince [the filmmakers].” They are under the impression that white hair equals gray hair.'”
White Hair
‘It’s Going To Be Great’
Former Fox 2000 president Elizabeth Gabler told the magazine, “Meryl and J. Roy Helland, who has been by her side for much of her career, came up with the unexpected appearance. She just stated, ‘My daughters, don’t worry, this is what I’m going to do, and it’s going to be fantastic.'”
‘It’s Going To Be Great’
Method Acting
“The first time Meryl was Miranda Priestly was a meeting with the head of the studio,” David Frankel said. In that encounter, Meryl channeled Miranda, and there was no discussion about the hair; they stared into Meryl’s eyes and never uttered a word.” Streep was method acting.
Method Acting
Always Remained In Character
Throughout the film, Streep used method acting. She kept in character as Miranda Priestley even when the cameras weren’t filming. She kept her co-stars Emily Blunt and Anne Hathaway at a distance, even being chilly to them at times because that’s what her character did to their characters.
Always Remained In Character
Not The Most Fun
Entertainment Weekly quoted Blunt as saying, “Meryl is so gregarious and fun as hell, in some ways it wasn’t the most fun for her having to remove herself. It wasn’t like she was unapproachable; You could go up to her and say, ‘Oh my God, the funniest thing just happened,’ and she’d listen, but I don’t know if it was the most fun for her to be on set is that way.”
Not The Most Fun
Full Of Praise
Hathaway had similar ideas, although she was full of love for Streep. “I did feel frightened, but I always felt cared for,” she told the newspaper. I knew whatever she was doing to instill dread in me was welcomed [because] I also knew she was looking out for me.”
Full Of Praise
Bringing More Out Of Her
Hathaway had similar ideas, although she was full of love for Streep. “I did feel frightened, but I always felt cared for,” she told the newspaper. I knew whatever she was doing to instill dread in me was welcomed [because] I also knew she was looking out for me.”
Bringing More Out Of Her
Talking About Her Performance
The cast reunion with Entertainment Weekly wasn’t the first time Hathaway spoke about her experience on The Devil Wears Prada with Meryl Streep. Because she went on The Graham Norton Show in 2014 and addressed her relationship with her method-acting co-star at the time.
Talking About Her Performance
Last Time She Saw ‘Meryl’
“When I met [Streep], she gave me a great embrace,” Hathaway recounted. [A]And I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, we’re going to have the nicest fun in this movie.’ And she’s like, ‘Ah sweetheart, that’s the last time I’m nice to you.’ She then walked into her trailer and came out the ice queen, and that was the last time I saw ‘Meryl’ for months until we marketed the movie.”
Last Time She Saw ‘Meryl’
Terrified Of Streep
Hathaway was afraid of Streep for a long time. “There’s a scenario where Andy and Miranda are getting out of a car…,” she told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show in 2018. Now, Meryl was a bit of an island unto herself when we were filming this, so I didn’t get to speak with her much. But I was going to get a whole scene just to sit in a car with her. And I was just freaked out.”
Terrified Of Streep
Impressing Her
“And you have to realize, like communicating may be difficult for me… And so I was like, ‘I’m going to take advantage of this time,'” Hathaway added. ‘I’m going to push myself to talk to Meryl Streep,’ but I couldn’t just talk to her. I couldn’t just be myself. “I had to make a good impression on her.”
Impressing Her
Trying To Talk To Streep
The younger actress remembers attempting many conversation starters on Streep, none of which were successful. “And if you have anxiety and push yourself to talk to someone, being faced with silence is like being plunged into a horrible pit,” she stated. It’s terrible.” She ultimately attempted to bring up Jon Stewart.
Trying To Talk To Streep
She Finally Responded
“Did you happen to catch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night?” Hathaway is believed to have asked Streep. He is excellent, in my opinion. “I think he’s rescuing America,” Hathaway remarked, adding that she sat “in the stillness fearing my life was ended.” However, Streep said, “No, I don’t think Jon Stewart is going to save America.” “I believe Stephen Colbert is.” Colbert enjoyed that.
She Finally Responded
She Didn’t Like How She Acted
Streep, on the other hand, was unhappy with her performance on the Prada set. Not in any manner, shape, or form. “It was dreadful!” says Entertainment Weekly. I was [disgusted] in my trailer. I could hear them all laughing and swaying. I was in such a funk! ‘Well, that’s the price you pay for being the boss,’ I responded. ‘That was the last time I tried a Method thing! ”
She Didn’t Like How She Acted
A Different Approach
Streep has been less interested in method acting since then. She now appears to be restricting herself to measures that only affect her and not her co-stars. For the 2015 film Ricki and the Flash, she spent six months learning how to play the guitar properly, all for realism.
A Different Approach
Going All Out
Furthermore, in classic Meryl Streep flair, she went all out. She was so focused on accurately portraying a rock star that she suffered significant bodily discomfort. One day, Streep contacted filmmaker Jonathan Demme and told him that she had worked so hard that her fingers were bleeding.
Going All Out
In Danger
However, Streep has been on the receiving end of people’s method of acting, and knowing the facts makes it even less unexpected that she gave it up. Consider what occurred in 1994, while she was filming The River Wild: she was on the verge of being killed. Yikes!
In Danger
Exhausted
Because the director insisted on a stunt that Streep was too exhausted to perform. So Streep hopped on a raft and paddled down the river, but the raft capsized and nearly killed her. When she was released in 1994, she told the Orlando Sentinel newspaper, “I feel fairly convinced that if I say that I’m too weary to accomplish something, we have to think I’m speaking the truth.”
Exhausted
Pushing Her Over The Edge
Then there was the incident on the set of one of her earlier movies. Dustin Hoffman, Streep’s co-star in the 1979 film Kramer vs. Kramer, utilized the tactic to severely drive her over the brink. More information regarding what transpired has been accessible over time.
Pushing Her Over The Edge
Taking It Too Far
Hoffman and Streep’s characters were intended to be squabbling in one of the film’s early sequences. Hoffman, on the other hand, is accused of going too far and slapping Streep in the face, leaving a red mark. She could have reported it since it was severe enough, according to Vanity Fair writer Michael Schulman, but she didn’t.
Taking It Too Far
Bringing Up Her Boyfriend
As if that wasn’t awful enough, Hoffman brought up Streep’s lover, John Cazale, who had recently died. He did this, it seemed, to frighten her and make her angry, as her character should be. Before the film’s iconic courtroom scene, he supposedly whispered Cazale’s name into Streep’s ear.
Bringing Up Her Boyfriend
Pleasant Off-Camera
Of course, this is a long cry from Meryl Streep’s approach to acting on the set of The Devil Wears Prada. Despite her estrangement from her co-stars, they understood why she was acting the way she was, and none of them criticized her. Several reports highlight her off-screen friendliness and pleasantness.
Pleasant Off Camera
A Lovely Person
“There was this crazy moment when I [finished] and I remember seeing [Streep] across the parking lot,” Emily Blunt said on the show Sunday Today in 2018. She burst out of her trailer, her wig snagged. She was simply Meryl. She was dressed in a big jacket. She said, ‘You were so fantastic,’ and I was like, [sobbing] and I just began bawling. It was heartbreaking.”
A Lovely Person
They’re Still Friends
And, given their on-screen chemistry, Hathaway and Streep are still pals, which should thrill Devil Wears Prada fans. In 2011, the Kennedy Center paid tribute to Streep with a spectacular memorial concert, and Hathaway led the cast of the film in a tribute dubbed “She’s My Pal.”
They’re Still Friends
What’s Next?
As a result, you may be wondering if The Devil Wears Prada will ever be followed by a sequel. Streep, Hathaway, and Blunt have all remarked that the picture works best as a stand-alone, but that they would want to collaborate with the same ensemble again in the future. Even though Streep froze out her co-stars in this picture, it merely goes to highlight her tremendous acting abilities, which allows her to shift dramatically depending on the part! She was a very different person on the sets of Mamma Mia! Films
What’s Next?
Mamma Mia!
Streep featured in Mamma Mia!, a musical romantic comedy. The film was released in 2008 and was a big hit. The duo, along with Amanda Seyfried, were acclaimed for their outstanding performance, and the ABBA songs included in the film were highly popular. It’s astounding how Streep can portray a cruel businesswoman in one film and a devoted mother attempting to run a business and raise a daughter in the next. Her breadth of experience is astounding.
Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again!
Natural Singer
Streep is not just a great actress, but she is also a superb singer! Streep performed all of her singing in the film genuinely and did an excellent job with the ABBA songs. This was not Meryl’s first opportunity to showcase her singing abilities on the big screen.
Natural Singer
Other Singing Roles
Meryl Streep not only wowed audiences with her vocals in Mamma Mia!, but she was also excellent in The Prom, Postcards from the Edge, and Into the Woods. Den of Geek lists “Mamma Mia” as Streep’s finest on-screen performance, although “I’m Checking Out” from Postcards Edge comes in second. Meryl’s first significant musical performance was in the film.
Other Singing Roles
She’s Checking Out
In the hit drama-comedy Postcards from the Edge, Streep’s first significant musical moment was “I’m Checking Out.” Postcards from the Edge is a candid and often acerbic exercise in getting things off a writer’s chest, loosely and nakedly based on screenwriter Carrie Fisher’s connection with her movie star mother Debbie Reynolds. Fisher also wanted to clear the air regarding her mother’s desire to push her to pursue a musical career. While Fisher struggled in her own life, she enabled Suzanne Vale (Streep) in the fictitious Suzanne Vale (Streep) to submit to her mother Doris Mann (Shirley MacLaine).
She’s Checking Out
Into The Woods
In the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s renowned musical, Streep played a witch seeking perpetual youth, which included multiple solo performances. Meryl Streep performs “Stay With Me” in the film, and her depiction of The Witch received critical praise and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Susan Wloszczyna of RogerEbert.com praised Streep’s versions of “Stay with Me” and “Last Midnight,” describing her performance as “practically everyone else in the dust and by purpose.”
Into The Woods
Ricki and the Flash
Ricki, an elderly rocker seeking to reconcile with the adult children she abandoned, was portrayed by Meryl Streep in this song-filled non-musical. The best part, in our opinion, was seeing Meryl Streep jam on an electric guitar while wearing her wild hair, blue eye makeup, and high-heeled Doc Martens.
Ricki And The Flash
The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter earned Streep her first Oscar nomination at the age of 29 – and it was the first time we saw her sing on camera: during a tense dinner scene, she belts out “God Bless America.” This 1978 war drama received critical acclaim and centered on a trio of Russian-American steelworkers whose lives are forever changed after fighting in the Vietnam War.
The Deer Hunter
Music of the Heart
Streep doesn’t sing in this one, but she does play the violin, which she refined during a month of daily six-hour practice sessions. She progressed to the point where she could compete with orchestral veterans like Joshua Bell and Isaac Stern.
Music Of The Heart
Ironweed
In this Great Depression-era film, Streep, who portrayed Helen Archer, a washed-up radio singer, sang “She’s Me Pal” on stage in a half-imagined scene inside a bar. At the Kennedy Center Honors in 2011, Streep’s Devil Wears Prada co-star Anne Hathaway sang a rendition of the song titled “She’s Me Pal” in her honor.
Ironweed
Postcards from the Edge
We’ve previously touched briefly on this picture, which featured one of Meryl’s best on-screen performances. Streep sang the original song “I’m Checking Out” as well as Ray Charles’ “You Don’t Know Me” with the band Blue Rodeo in the film Postcards from the Edge, in which she played the daughter of a Hollywood celebrity who overdoses and goes to rehab. She intended to sing “I’m Checking Out” at the Oscars, but she was unable to do so due to her pregnancy. Reba McEntire, on the other hand, took her place on the Oscars stage.
Postcards From The Edge
Death Becomes Her
Streep was a fiancée-stealing Broadway performer in Death Becomes Her, opening the dark comedy with a leading-lady-worthy number. Death Becomes Her was a box office success, grossing $149 million worldwide on a $55 million budget. The film was a pioneer in the use of computer-generated effects, earning the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Death Becomes Her has developed a sizable cult following in the decades after its release, notably within the LGBT community.
Death Becomes Her
A Prairie Home Companion
Streep appeared on A Prairie Home Companion in a duet with another movie star, Lily Tomlin, on “My Minnesota Home,” which followed the final broadcast of a radio variety program in Minnesota.
A Prairie Home Companion
Florence Foster Jenkins
We adore witnessing Meryl perform her singing abilities in films, and happily, we got another chance to experience this in Florence Foster Jenkins. The film, which starred Meryl Streep as an aspiring (but untalented) opera singer, was released in 2016. Expect nothing like Streep’s singing: Florence was famed for being a horrible vocalist. Well, Meryl is still singing… We can only speculate.
Florence Foster Jenkins
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!
Streep’s character died, and she had a smaller part in this picture. “Meryl, she doesn’t like sequels and she wanted to be a part of [Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again]—she had a great time, all of those things, so she wanted to be in it, but she wanted it to be meaningful,” Oliver Parker stated after deciding to kill off Donna and informing Meryl of the news.
Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again!
Future Films?
Streep has not been confirmed to appear in any new films, but she has been confirmed to be in the upcoming Apple TV+ anthology series Extrapolations. We doubt she’ll have much of a chance to sing in the film, given that it’s about climate change, but we can hope she’ll be cast in future singing parts in other projects!
Future Films?