Craig Melvin Reveals Jenna Bush Hager’s Devil Wears Prada 2 Cameo

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Oh, the beauties of live television. 

One of the challenges of live television is that you can’t edit out errors, as Craig Melvin discovered when he unintentionally shared a surprise Jenna Bush Hager had been keeping secret.

During an April 8th interview on Today, Craig explained why he’s confident the upcoming Devil Wears Prada 2 – featuring returning stars Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Blunt – will be a success: “If Justin Baldoni is in it, it’s going to be good!”

Cut to Jenna looking shocked, her mouth hanging open. 

She said with a slightly uncomfortable smile, “I’m not sure you should have said that.” Savannah Guthrie, who had recently returned to Today on April 6th after taking time off because of her mother, Nancy Guthrie, going missing, jokingly added, “That’s why you can’t tell Craig anything.”

After which the show’s co-anchor came to his own defense.

“I thought that was common knowledge,” Craig protested, causing Al Roker to quip, “Well it is now!”

Craig hoped the show’s producers would edit out his mistake, but it was too late—his embarrassed expression clearly showed he realized it was already noticeable.

“Sorry about that JBH,” he added to Jenna across the studio, while she replied, “Oops!”

Honestly, I was shocked! After everything that happened, Savannah just couldn’t resist one last dig at her co-anchor. She actually said, “Why don’t you read my journal while you’re at it?” It was so passive-aggressive, and I couldn’t believe she’d say something like that on air.

Even though fans already know about Jenna’s appearance in the movie, it still looks like it will be a truly innovative and impressive film.

As a lifestyle expert, I’ve always admired how conscious Anne Hathaway is about representation. She recently shared that after seeing some incredibly thin models at Milan Fashion Week, she was determined to ensure the film we were making about the fashion world actually showed a more realistic and inclusive view of beauty. It was really important to her – and to me – that we move away from those potentially harmful, unrealistic standards.

In a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar published on March 25th, Meryl said she believed the issue had been resolved a long time ago. Annie agreed and immediately brought it to the attention of the show’s producers.

So, when it came to the casting for a runway show that occurs in the sequel, Anne had stipulations.

According to the star of Mamma Mia!, Anne Hathaway spoke with the film’s leaders and obtained assurances that the models featured in the movie wouldn’t be excessively thin.

As Meryl put it, “She’s a stand-up girl.”

Get ready for The Devil Wears Prada 2, coming to theaters on May 1st! Until then, we’re sharing behind-the-scenes details about the first movie.

Even before the book The Devil Wears Prada was published, a movie adaptation was already being planned. Fox executives were impressed by the first 100 pages and a summary of the story, which was loosely based on author Lauren Weisberger’s time as assistant to Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour. Carla Hacken, a former Fox executive, told Variety in 2016 that she was the first at the studio to read it and immediately recognized the character of Miranda Priestly as a compelling villain. She recalled the studio quickly securing the rights to make the film.

Even before the book became a New York Times bestseller in 2003, efforts were underway to adapt it for the screen. After four different writers attempted to create a straightforward adaptation, Aline Brosh McKenna was brought in to write a new version. Her focus shifted to the compromises women make as they climb the ranks at fashion magazines. “I wrote a first draft quite quickly—in about a month,” McKenna explained. “Then I revised it based on everyone’s feedback.”

Creating the story for the film presented challenges during production. According to author McKenna, people in the fashion industry were hesitant to speak with her, fearing retribution from Anna Wintour and Vogue. She told Entertainment Weekly that one anonymous source even critiqued her initial portrayal of the characters, pointing out they seemed too kind for the competitive world depicted. McKenna then revised the script to make the characters more driven and less agreeable.

Director David Frankel told Entertainment Weekly that Anna Wintour’s influence created some challenges finding filming locations. Because of the Met Ball, the Metropolitan Museum of Art wasn’t willing to let them film there. They also couldn’t use Bryant Park, which was then the regular location for New York Fashion Week.

We even looked at some famous apartment buildings for Miranda’s place, but the building committees wouldn’t allow us to film there. Finally, a producer friend, Wendy Finerman, let us borrow a five-story townhouse on the Upper East Side.

According to Sonja Frankel, the production team perfectly recreated Anna Wintour’s office for the film. Production designer Jess Gonchor secretly visited Wintour’s actual office for reference. Frankel shared with EW that the recreation was so accurate, Wintour reportedly redecorated her real office after seeing the movie.

The clothing also proved difficult to source. At first, according to Frankel in EW, designers were unwilling to loan items for the movie, fearing the disapproval of Anna Wintour.

The film’s incredible costumes were created by the renowned Patricia Field, who gathered around 150 pieces from designers like Donna Karan, Zac Posen, Rick Owens, and even Prada. She carefully styled Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, making sure the character’s look was distinct from Anna Wintour. As Streep joked, “Everything was borrowed, so we had to be careful not to spill anything at lunch! We couldn’t risk getting stains and not being able to return the clothes.”

Anna Wintour seems to have a good sense of humor about everything. Meryl Streep spoke with the editor-in-chief of Vogue for the magazine’s 125th anniversary issue, discussing her role as Katherine Graham in the 2017 film The Post. When asked about the hardest character she’d ever played, Streep began to answer, but Wintour playfully interrupted, saying with a laugh, “No, no! Let’s not talk about that, Meryl.”

Wintour actually did see a screening of the movie—the very same one as her former assistant, Weisberger. She later explained to 60 Minutes that while she found it entertaining, it wasn’t an accurate portrayal of life at the magazine.

Meryl Streep was the only actress the studio considered for the role of Miranda, according to studio VP Hacken, who told Variety they didn’t even think about anyone else. Hacken admitted, “I just kept hoping it would be Meryl.” She was so thrilled when Streep’s agent called to say the actress had read the script and would meet with the director that she briefly put the agent on hold to celebrate. “I was yelling in my office,” she recalled.

Meryl Streep explained to Entertainment Weekly that she admired the character’s strength and refusal to compromise herself. She appreciated that the character didn’t shy away from her flaws, and that she didn’t try to be likable or charming to get what she wanted – something Streep’s friend, Carrie Fisher, used to describe as being overly accommodating. Streep noted that this character, Miranda, simply didn’t engage in that kind of behavior.

Before agreeing to the role, Meryl Streep did something very characteristic of the character she would play – she asked for a raise. Although she had already won two Oscars and received eleven other nominations, she wasn’t used to negotiating her salary. This time, however, she confidently spoke up and asked for more money.

She told Variety that the initial offer felt a little low, and didn’t quite reflect how much she contributed to the project. After she prepared to leave, they increased the offer significantly. She was 55 years old and had only recently learned to confidently negotiate for herself.

Streep also requested specific scenes to ensure her character, Miranda, felt realistic and not like a stereotype. She wanted a scene showcasing Miranda’s knowledge of fashion – specifically, the now-famous discussion about Andy’s blue sweater – and another showing a vulnerable side, where Miranda is stripped of her usual composure in a hotel room.

Meryl Streep actually came up with the idea for Miranda Priestly’s white hair, debuting the look during a meeting with studio executives. Director David Frankel told EW that Streep fully embodied the character during that meeting – the executives simply looked into her eyes and didn’t even need to discuss the hair. It was that impactful.

Anne Hathaway revealed she wasn’t the first choice for her role in The Devil Wears Prada. During an appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race, she jokingly said she was actually the ninth actress considered for the part – implying she had to really prove herself to get the role, perhaps even more than her character, Andy, worked for Miranda.

Anne Hathaway didn’t need to audition for The Devil Wears Prada, but she still had to work hard to get the part. She told Variety she was very patient and even went to great lengths, like writing “hire me” in the sand of a friend’s zen garden, to show her interest. When she finally found out she’d been cast, she was at home with friends. She remembers running into her living room, still putting on a shirt, and excitedly yelling, “I got The Devil Wears Prada!”

Luckily for Anne Hathaway, the studio’s first choice for the role turned it down several times. Director Frankel told Entertainment Weekly that they offered the part to Rachel McAdams three times. At the time, McAdams was filming The Family Stone and, after starring in hits like Mean Girls and The Notebook, didn’t want to immediately take on another popular, mainstream film. According to Frankel, the studio really wanted McAdams, but she was set on not doing the movie.

Kate Hudson turned down a highly sought-after role, something many actresses would have loved to play. She explained on Capital FM’s Capital Breakfast in February 2025 that it simply wasn’t the right time, and she regrets not making it work. She admitted that when she first read the script, she had a negative reaction.

Meryl Streep, impressed by Anne Hathaway’s performance in the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain, played a key role in casting Hathaway in The Princess Diaries. As director Garry Marshall remembered, Streep saw a particular scene from Brokeback Mountain, then spoke with Hathaway and contacted Fox executive Tom Rothman, telling him, ‘This actress is fantastic, and I think we’d work well together.’

Finding the right actress for Emily proved even harder. Frankel auditioned over 100 women for the role of Miranda’s tough assistant (including Tracie Thoms, who later auditioned for the part of Andy’s friend, Lily). Ultimately, it was Emily Blunt, who showed up dressed casually, that stood out to him.

Emily Blunt was already at the Fox studio auditioning for the movie Eragon when a casting director asked her to read for The Devil Wears Prada. As she told The Late Late Show in May 2021, she was in a hurry to catch her flight and felt flustered. She did the reading while wearing sweatpants and didn’t feel she looked the part.

Oh my god, can you believe it? Apparently, after she didn’t get the part in Eragon, Emily Blunt was just… devastated. She was telling Variety about it, and get this – she got a call from the director, Frankel, while she was literally in the bathroom of some random club in London! She said he told her he loved her audition tape, but the studio wanted one more look. He basically asked her to re-do the audition, but this time, to actually dress the part! Can you even imagine?! It was so close, and they wanted to see it again! I’m obsessed with this story!

Emily was originally intended to be an American character, but Kate Blunt’s performance changed that. When Blunt delivered the sharp lines with her British accent, screenwriter McKenna decided to rewrite the script to reflect that. As McKenna explained to Entertainment Weekly, they met at a coffee shop and added British expressions throughout the script.

Oh my gosh, Emily Blunt is a genius! She actually admits to stealing real-life moments and putting them in her movies! She was on Howard Stern and told this amazing story. She was filming and saw this mom in a supermarket totally stressed out, yelling at her kid. But it wasn’t just what she said, it was how she said it – she kept opening and closing her hand while saying, ‘Yeah, I’m hearing this, and I want to hear this.’ Emily thought it was so perfect she just had to put it in the movie! It’s incredible that something so real, something she just observed, ended up becoming one of her most famous lines! I’m obsessed!

I’ll never forget when Stanley Tucci joined the cast! The producers were really struggling to find the perfect actor to play Nigel, the art director, for months. Thankfully, he said yes at the very last minute, as he told Entertainment Weekly. And honestly, he became Nigel! His dry wit was perfect, and so many of the character’s funniest lines weren’t even in the script – he improvised them on the spot! He truly made the role iconic.

As a huge fan, one of my absolute favorite moments is when Miranda first arrives at the office and everyone completely freaks out! Honestly, we were all cracking up so much on set, apparently. Stanley Tucci told Buzzfeed that David kept improvising lines for him to deliver, and ‘Gird your loins’ was the one that stuck. He also shared with Entertainment Weekly that he actually came up with another line – ‘Tits in!’ – and it made everyone laugh every single time, but it didn’t make the final cut. It’s just so funny to imagine them trying out all those options!

You know, when I think about what truly matters, it’s family – and Stanley Tucci is no different! He’s stayed close with his ‘Devil Wears Prada’ costar Emily Blunt, and was even a guest at her wedding to John Krasinski back in 2010. It was actually there that he reconnected with Felicity Blunt, who is now his wife! They married in 2012 and are parents to two adorable children, Matteo and Emilia. It’s a lovely story, really – a reminder that sometimes the best things in life happen when you least expect them.

According to an interview with People magazine, Tucci first met his current wife at the premiere of his 2006 film. He was still married to his late wife, Kate Tucci, at the time, and she had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. He explained that he made the film, Kate began treatment, and then they attended the premiere. She lived for four more years after that. Interestingly, his current wife, Felicity (Emily’s sister), actually spoke with Kate at the premiere, and he has a photo of them together.

Rosario Thoms, similar to Anne Hathaway, clearly remembers getting the call about landing the role of Lily. It happened on her 30th birthday in August 2005. While she felt good about her audition—she’d often been cast as the supportive best friend and thought Lily would be a natural fit—she was still overjoyed when she found out she’d gotten the part.

She remembered being at Dartmouth, workshopping a new play by Alan Ball, when she found out she’d gotten the part in The Devil Wears Prada. She told TopMob News she received the news casually during lunch in the cafeteria – someone simply wished her a happy birthday and told her she was cast. She described it as a wonderful birthday memory.

Thoms recalls seeing Adrian Grenier, who was very popular during his time on Entourage, surrounded by fans. Instead of signing autographs, Grenier cleverly gave each fan a CD by his band, The Honey Brothers.

Thoms observed that Josh Grenier, playing Andy’s boyfriend Nate, used the attention to highlight his bandmates, since he wasn’t the lead singer. Thoms admired how Grenier thoughtfully acknowledged everyone’s support and actively returned the favor to his fellow band members.

Thoms had a wonderful time filming, describing the atmosphere as feeling like they were on the set of Sex and the City – though she admits it wasn’t quite the same! Despite the overall positive experience, she does wish one thing had gone differently.

She had a specific idea for how the Marc Jacobs bag would be used in the scene where Lily and Thoms both really wanted it. “I asked the props team to keep the bag hidden until we started filming, so my reaction would be real,” she explained. “The surprised grabbing and begging – ‘I want it!’ – that all happened because the bag was truly stunning.”

She confessed to TopMob News that she loved the purse so much she’d actually planned a storyline about keeping it. Unfortunately, the scene where she’d ‘accidentally’ leave it behind at work was cut, meaning she never got the chance to reclaim it. She admitted it was quite disappointing.

Meryl Streep didn’t travel to Paris for the film. Originally, no one was scheduled to shoot scenes in Paris for Miranda and Andy’s trip to Paris Fashion Week. Director David Frankel was shocked by this, but he created a compelling preview that convinced the studio to move the film’s release to the summer and increase its budget.

Hathaway and Simon Baker (playing Christian, her other love interest) traveled to France for filming, but Meryl Streep shot her scenes in New York. The studio said it was too expensive to fly Streep to France.

Meryl Streep actually ended up missing out on a lot of the enjoyable moments on set. She explained to Entertainment Weekly that her decision to fully embody her stern character, Miranda, and avoid socializing with the cast was a mistake. She could hear everyone having fun, and it made her feel down. She joked that it was the cost of playing the boss, and vowed to never again use that intense acting approach – known as ‘Method acting’ – again!

Before Meryl Streep playfully turned distant, she offered Anne Hathaway a quick word of encouragement, as Hathaway shared with People magazine. Streep told her, “I think you’re going to be great, and I’m really happy to be working with you… and that’s the last compliment you’ll get from me!”

That’s all. 

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2026-04-08 19:19