Meryl Streep Says If “The Devil Wears Prada”'s Miranda Priestly Were a Man There ‘Would Be No Movie’
Meryl Streep Says If “The Devil Wears Prada”'s Miranda Priestly Were a Man There ‘Would Be No Movie’
Victoria EdelWed, April 29, 2026 at 6:56 PM UTC
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Meryl Streep in 'The Devil Wears Prada'Credit: Barry Wetcher/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock -
Meryl Streep opened up about her iconic role as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada
Streep said if Miranda was a man, there would 'be no movie'
Streep received an Oscar nomination for her role in the 2006 film
Meryl Streep thinks Miranda Priestly is essential to The Devil Wears Prada.
Streep, 76, opened up in an interview with The New York Times, alongside Devil Wears Prada cast members Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci and director David Frankel. Streep starred in the 2006 film as Miranda, the powerful head of Runway magazine. Hathaway played Andy, who's hired as her assistant. Blunt played Priestly's first assistant, Emily, while Tucci is the magazine's fashion director.
Journalist Melena Ryzik asked what lessons The Devil Wears Prada (and its sequel, The Devil Wears Prada 2) have about “ambition.” Streep said, “You know, if Miranda Priestly were Michael Priestly, there would be no movie, the first movie.”
She explained, “Everything she does is sort of slightly horrible, but would be kind of adorable if a man said, ‘By all means, move at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me.' And everybody would go, ‘He's great, isn't he?' ”
Meryl Streep in 'The Devil Wears Prada'Credit: Alamy
“But there's a special tinge of mercury around that kind of remark from a woman,” she said. With a fake cry, she added, “It just hurts more.”
But Streep also said she was inspired by some of the men in her life in the way she played the role. “Most of the bosses that I'd had in my life were men,” she said. “So I them, the people that were good at leading in a strong way without making a big effort, seemingly.”
Streep, a three-time Oscar winner, also said that when she looks back at the first film, it feels “quaint.” She pointed out, “You know, it was made a year before the iPhone came out. It's another world, entirely.”
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But Tucci, 65, added that he thought it had aged well. “A lot of movies date pretty quickly,” he said. “That movie works all the time. You have generations of people watching it.”
The cast also teased how the new movie is different from the first. “The first one was a Cinderella story, and this one is more like Pilgrim's Progress with better clothes,” Streep said, referencing the 1678 Christian allegory. “This young woman [is] going through the Stations of the Cross, every crisis of conscience and betrayal.” She said that Hathaway's Andy has “a lot of big decisions” and things are “more complicated.”
Meryl Streep at the London premiere of 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' on April 22Credit: Tristan Fewings/Getty
Earlier this month, Hathaway, 43, reflected on how she and Andy have both changed in the 20 years since the first film. “I think we're both more confident,” she told PEOPLE.
“I think that 20 years ago Andy Sachs was really worried about getting it right and she really wanted to please her boss,” Hathaway, who is PEOPLE 2026 World's Most Beautiful cover star, said. “And now I think that she wants to be herself. And I relate to that.”
The original The Devil Wears Prada also starred Adrian Grenier, Simon Baker, Gisele Bündchen and Tracie Thoms. It made over $325 million at the box office, and Streep was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as Miranda.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 adds new cast members, including Justin Theroux, Kenneth Branagh, Lucy Liu, Simone Ashley and Caleb Hearon. Both films were directed by Frankel and written by Aline Brosh McKenna.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 hits theaters May 1.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
