Emily Blunt Reveals Her Kids’ Priceless Reaction to Devil Wears Prada

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In Emily Blunt’s household, one movie role stands out from the rest.

Emily Blunt shared what her daughters, Hazel (11) and Violet (9), think of her role as Emily Charlton in the 2006 movie The Devil Wears Prada. According to Blunt, her daughters consider it one of her best performances.

She shared with TopMob News at ELLE’s Women in Hollywood Celebration in Los Angeles on November 17th that her character is the only one people are focused on. She also joked that people see her as a villain – just like her role in the movie.

The 42-year-old actress, who married a star from The Office in 2010, playfully said her daughters haven’t seen her act like the harsh character she often played on television.

Good news for fans of The Devil Wears Prada – Emily Blunt is returning for a sequel alongside Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, and Stanley Tucci! The movie is scheduled to come out next spring, and according to Blunt, it felt like no time at all had passed since they last filmed together.

She said they’ve been friends for years and that Meryl Streep was like a mentor who helped launch her career. She was thrilled to see everyone again.

Honestly, getting to work with Anne again was amazing. It really took me back to when we made the first movie – it feels like yesterday, even though it was twenty years ago! So many great memories came flooding back.

Emily explained that she was completely new to everything when she started the first movie. She hadn’t even visited New York before, but Anne took her under her wing and was incredibly kind. Emily is really thankful for Anne showing her around the city – it was a fantastic experience.

Get ready for The Devil Wears Prada 2, hitting theaters on May 1st! While you wait, enjoy a look behind the scenes at how the first movie was made.

—Reporting by Amanda Champagne-Meadows

 

Even before the book The Devil Wears Prada was published, a movie adaptation was already being planned. Fox executives were impressed with just the first 100 pages and a summary, which were enough to convince them to buy the rights. The story, loosely based on author Lauren Weisberger’s time as assistant to Vogue‘s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, immediately stood out. As Carla Hacken, a former Fox executive, explained to Variety in 2016, she was the first at the studio to read it and believed the character of Miranda Priestly was a truly memorable villain, prompting a quick and competitive deal to secure the film rights.

Even before the book became a New York Times bestseller in 2003, efforts were underway to adapt it for the screen. After four writers attempted to create a straightforward adaptation, Aline Brosh McKenna was brought in to write a new version. Her script focused on the compromises women make to advance their careers at fashion magazines. “I wrote a first draft fairly quickly – it took about a month,” McKenna explained. “Then I revised it based on everyone’s feedback.”

Creating the story for the film presented challenges, particularly getting people in the fashion industry to share information. According to author McKenna, many were fearful of upsetting Anna Wintour and Vogue and facing potential repercussions. One anonymous source told McKenna the characters were portrayed as too kind, noting that people in that world simply don’t have the time or inclination to be nice. McKenna then revised the story to make the characters more driven and less agreeable.

Director David Frankel told Entertainment Weekly that Anna Wintour’s influence created some challenges when finding filming locations. The Met Gala meant the Metropolitan Museum wasn’t available, and Bryant Park—which was then the regular home of New York Fashion Week—was also off-limits.

We couldn’t even get permission to film in some of the famous apartment buildings we considered for Miranda’s place; the building co-ops wouldn’t allow it. Finally, a producer friend, Wendy Finerman, lent us a five-story townhouse on the Upper East Side to use instead.

According to Andy Frankel, the production designer, Jess Gonchor, was the only person from the film who had contact with Vogue. He secretly visited Anna Wintour’s office to study it, and recreated it so accurately that, reportedly, Wintour redecorated her actual office after seeing the movie.

The costumes for the movie also proved difficult to source. According to Frankel, designers were hesitant to loan clothing because they feared upsetting Anna Wintour, the influential editor.

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’s character, Miranda Priestly, to be distinct from Anna Wintour. As Streep joked, “Everything was borrowed, so we had to be extra careful – no spaghetti at lunch!” because any stains would make the items unreturnable.

Anna Wintour seems to have a good sense of humor about everything. Meryl Streep spoke with her for Vogue’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! We’re not talking about that, Meryl.”

Wintour actually did see the movie—the same screening as her previous assistant, Weisberger. Later, she told 60 Minutes that while it was entertaining, the film wasn’t an accurate portrayal of life at the magazine.

Meryl Streep was the only actress the studio considered for the role of Miranda. Studio VP Hacken told Variety they didn’t even think about anyone else, saying she just hoped it would be Streep. When Streep’s agent called to say she’d read the script and wanted to meet with the director, Hacken was so excited she briefly put the agent on hold to celebrate, even shouting in her office.

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 especially that she didn’t try to be likable to get what she wanted. Streep recalled a phrase her friend, Carrie Fisher, used to describe how women often try to be accommodating – ‘the squeezy and tilty’ – and noted that this character didn’t engage in that behavior at all.

Before agreeing to the role, Meryl Streep did something very characteristic of the demanding character she would play. Although she’d already won two Academy Awards and received eleven more nominations, she wasn’t used to negotiating a higher salary. This time, however, she confidently 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 doubled it. She was 55 and realized, for the first time, how to negotiate for herself.

Streep also requested specific scenes to ensure Miranda wasn’t portrayed as a simple stereotype. She wanted one focusing on Miranda’s expertise in fashion – specifically, the famous scene about the cerulean sweater – and another showing a more vulnerable side of the character, like the intimate hotel room scene where she lets her guard down.

Let me tell you, Meryl Streep is a master of transformation! For ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’ she didn’t just wear Miranda Priestly, she became her. She actually showed up for a meeting with the studio head sporting that iconic, icy white hairstyle, and it was brilliant. Director David Frankel told Entertainment Weekly that Meryl completely embodied Miranda in that moment – they just looked into her eyes and understood. No one even needed to discuss the hair; it spoke for itself. It was a powerful example of how she uses every detail, even appearance, to truly become a character.

Anne Hathaway revealed she wasn’t the first choice for her role in The Devil Wears Prada. She jokingly said on RuPaul’s Drag Race that she was actually the ninth actress considered for the part, implying she had to work hard to convince the filmmakers she was right for the role – perhaps even harder than her character, Andy, worked for Miranda Priestly in the movie.

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

Luckily for Anne Hathaway, the studio’s first choice for the role repeatedly said no. Director Frankel told Entertainment Weekly they offered the part to Rachel McAdams three times, but she was filming The Family Stone at the time. After starring in hits like Mean Girls and The Notebook, McAdams wasn’t interested in another big, popular movie. According to Frankel, the studio really wanted her, but she was determined not to take the role.

Kate Hudson turned down a highly coveted role, saying it just wasn’t the right time. She explained on Capital FM’s Capital Breakfast in February 2025 that she regretted not making it work, and immediately knew it wasn’t a fit for her when she first saw the script.

Meryl Streep—and Anne Hathaway’s performance in the 2005 Oscar-winning film Brokeback Mountain—convinced Streep to sign on for The Princess Diaries sequel. Director Garry Marshall remembered that Streep saw Hathaway’s scene, met with her, and then called Fox executive Tom Rothman, saying she believed Hathaway was talented and they would work well together.

Finding the right actress for Emily proved even harder. Frankel reviewed over 100 auditions for the role of Miranda’s tough assistant (including Tracie Thoms, who later auditioned for the part of Andy’s friend, Lily), but it was Emily Blunt, who showed up in casual clothes, that really stood out to him.

Emily Blunt was already auditioning for the film Eragon at the Fox studio 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 quite frazzled. She did the reading, but she was wearing sweatpants and didn’t look the part, which likely didn’t make a great impression.

Oh my god, can you believe it? After she didn’t get the part in Eragon, Emily Blunt was just… devastated. But then, this amazing thing happened! She was telling Variety about it, and apparently, she was at some club in London, like a really dive-y one, when she got a call from the director, Frankel. She actually had to take the call from the bathroom! He said he loved her audition tape, he really did, but the studio wanted to see her again. He wanted her to do the same thing, but… dress the part a little better? I mean, can you even imagine?! It was so close, and then they wanted another look! I’m still obsessed with this story!

Emily was originally conceived as an American character, but Emily Blunt’s performance changed that. When Blunt delivered the sharp dialogue with her British accent, the writers decided to rewrite the script to reflect that. As screenwriter McKenna explained to Entertainment Weekly, they met for coffee and added British phrases and expressions throughout the script.

Emily Blunt shared that she often draws inspiration from real life, even ‘stealing’ moments she observes from others. She recounted an instance on The Howard Stern Show where she overheard a frustrated mother in a supermarket scolding her child. The mother emphatically said, ‘Yeah, I’m hearing this, and I want to hear this,’ while making a specific hand gesture. Blunt found the line so impactful that she incorporated it into one of her films.

Stanley Tucci played a key role in creating some of the most memorable lines in the film. After a lengthy search for the perfect actor to play art director Nigel, Tucci took on the role just in time, as he told Entertainment Weekly. He then perfectly captured Nigel’s witty and sarcastic personality, even coming up with some of the character’s most famous lines on the spot.

Stanley Tucci recalled fondly a scene where Miranda first arrives at the office, causing a bit of panic among the staff. He explained to Buzzfeed that the cast kept bursting into laughter during filming, and director David Frankel would improvise lines for Tucci to deliver. The now-iconic phrase ‘Gird your loins’ ultimately made the cut, but not without some other contenders. Tucci shared with Entertainment Weekly that he’d also suggested, ‘Tits in!’, which always got a laugh from everyone, but didn’t make it into the final version.

One of his most cherished memories from making the movie is the connection he made with his costars. He became close enough with Emily Blunt to be invited to her wedding to John Krasinski in 2010. It was there he reconnected with Felicity Blunt, who is now his wife. They married in 2012 and have two children, Matteo and Emilia.

According to Tucci’s interview with People magazine, he first met his current wife at the premiere of a film in 2006. 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 filmed the movie, Kate began treatment, and then they attended the premiere. Kate lived for four more years after that. Interestingly, his current wife, Felicity (Emily’s sister), and Kate actually spoke at the premiere, and he has a photo of them together.

Rosario Thoms, similar to Anne Hathaway, vividly recalls getting the call about landing the role of Lily. It happened on her 30th birthday in August 2005. Though she felt good about her audition—having often played supporting, ‘best friend’ characters at that point in her career, and thinking Lily would be a natural fit—she was still overjoyed when she found out she’d been cast.

She told TopMob News she was at Dartmouth workshopping a new play by Alan Ball when she found out she’d been cast in The Devil Wears Prada. She remembered someone telling her the news over lunch in the cafeteria, saying, ‘Hey, so you booked The Devil Wears Prada. Happy birthday!’ She added, ‘It was a really nice birthday memory.’

Thoms recalls seeing Adrian Grenier, who was very popular during his role on Entourage, surrounded by fans. Grenier cleverly handled the constant autograph requests by giving everyone a CD from his band, The Honey Brothers, instead.

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

Thoms described her experience as amazing, comparing it to being on the show Sex and the City – though she admitted it wasn’t quite the same. Despite everything being great, she does have one regret.

She had a specific idea for how to use the Marc Jacobs bag that Lily and Thoms were so clearly excited about in one scene. “I asked the props team to keep the bag hidden until we started filming, because I wanted our reactions to be real,” she explained. “The surprised looks, reaching for it, and begging for it – that all happened because the bag was truly stunning.”

She confessed to TopMob News that the purse was so beautiful she’d actually planned a way to keep it. She even imagined a scene where she’d ‘accidentally’ leave it in her trailer, but that part of the story was cut. Sadly, she never got the chance to take the purse with her when she finished working.

As a lifestyle expert, I always say things rarely go exactly as planned! And the story of filming those final scenes in Paris for ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ is a perfect example. Initially, nobody – not even Meryl Streep – was scheduled to go! Can you believe it? It was a huge shock to the director, David Frankel, but he was determined. He quickly put together a compelling preview reel and managed to convince the studio to move the release date to the summer and increase the budget. That’s how we got those iconic Parisian scenes – a little bit of quick thinking and a lot of persuasion!

Hathaway and Simon Baker (playing Christian, her other love interest) traveled to France to film for two days. However, Meryl Streep filmed her scenes in New York because the studio said it would be too expensive to fly her 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 strict Miranda character and distance herself from casual conversation with the cast was “horrible.” She could hear everyone having fun and felt really down. She joked that it was the cost of playing the boss, and it was the last time she ever tried that intense acting approach.

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 want you to know I think you’re going to be great, and I’m so happy to work with you…and that’s the last nice thing I’m going to say to you.”

That’s all. 

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2025-11-18 21:51