Meryl Streep literally transformed into Miranda Priestley for “The Devil Wears Prada.”
Streep’s co-star Emily Blunt, whose quippy comedic turn in the film marked her breakout role, revealed that Streep was “miserable” staying in character for the beloved 2006 film during a conversation with Brian Cox for Variety’s Actors on Actors. Streep starred as an Anna Wintour-inspired fashion magazine editor who constantly abuses her employees in her quest for perfection.
“She’s amazing and was slightly terrifying on that film,” Blunt said of Streep. “She said it was one of the first times she’s tried Method acting. But it made her so miserable, playing Miranda.”
Oscar winner Streep previously admitted that it was “horrible” to isolate herself from her co-stars on set while in character as Miranda.
“I was [miserable] in my trailer,” Streep recalled in 2021. “I could hear them all rocking and laughing. I was so depressed! I said, ‘Well, it’s the price you pay for being boss!’ That’s the last time I ever attempted a Method thing.”
Blunt added at the time, “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 being that way.”
Hathaway noted that Streep never made her feel “intimidated” while Method acting, saying, “I knew that whatever she was doing to create that fear, I appreciated [because] I also knew she was watching out for me.”
Director David Frankel told IndieWire during the film’s decade anniversary in 2016 that Streep’s character was actually meant to be the “heroine” of the story, and not Hathaway’s Andy Sachs.
“I was a fan of Anna Wintour and Vogue magazine. For me the approach to developing the movie properly was to make Miranda Priestley the heroine, someone to be celebrated sympathetically rather than someone to be reviled,” Frankel said. “In my view of the world, we should be thrilled to have the people who are excellent at what they do, superior at their jobs. The fact that they are not always nice is irrelevant.”
