Press Details
10 Things You May Not Know About ‘The Devil Wears Prada’
[ad_1]
Primarily based on Lauren Weisberger’s New York Occasions bestselling novel The Satan Wears Prada, the 2006 film explored the tense relationship between journal editor Miranda Priestly, performed by Meryl Streep and her latest assistant, Andrea “Andy” Sachs, performed by Anne Hathaway. The movie was each a business and field workplace success, and its eminently quotable dialogue and recent take a look at the style world has left a long-lasting affect on the cultural zeitgeist. Listed below are 10 details you might not know concerning the movie:
The movie rights have been purchased earlier than the e-book was even completed
After graduating from Cornell College with an English diploma, Weisberger landed a place as an assistant to Vogue journal editor Anna Wintour, working there for slightly below a 12 months. Wintour, a legendary determine within the style and publishing world, had already cultivated a popularity as a demanding, strong-willed boss. Weisberger started engaged on the novel a number of years after she’d left Vogue, and the unfinished manuscript made the rounds to each publishing homes and movie manufacturing corporations.
Elizabeth Gabler, then the top of Fox 2000 studio, was instantly taken with the thought. As she instructed Indiewire, “The thought was so sturdy, the idea so clear and so engaging, that we thought we might have the ability to determine a film from it it doesn’t matter what the eventual manuscript turned out to be.” Carla Hacken, Gabler’s improvement chief, was equally enthusiastic: “I assumed Miranda Priestly was one of many best villains ever. I keep in mind we aggressively went in and scooped it up.”
It took a number of tries to get the script proper
Though everybody concerned with the undertaking noticed its potential, the event course of was tough. Early drafts of the script got here throughout as too mean-spirited and satirical, with the character of Andy obsessive about getting revenge on her merciless boss. Director David Frankel, who was in negotiations to helm the movie, advised shifting gears to deal with each the success (and sacrifices) made by a profitable girl like Miranda in a male-dominated world. The producers employed a then-little-known author, Aline Brosh McKenna (who would later pen a number of screenplays and co-create the TV collection Loopy Ex-Girlfriend), who spent greater than a 12 months working with Frankel on a brand new script, which jettisoned a lot of the content material from the final a part of Weisberger’s e-book
Streep performed hardball when it got here to her wage
The legendary actress was everybody’s first option to play Miranda. Streep shortly signed on, sure the movie can be successful. However when she discovered what producers had provided her for the function, she was offended. As she instructed Selection, “The supply was to my thoughts barely, if not insulting, not maybe reflective of my precise worth to the undertaking.” Maybe impressed by Miranda’s sense of her personal worth, she thought of backing out of the undertaking: “I used to be 55, and I had simply discovered, at a really late date, methods to deal by myself behalf.”
Streep received the battle, and her wage was upped to $4 million — twice what she was initially provided. She additionally received assurances that the ultimate script would come with scenes additional humanizing Miranda and exploring what made her tick. As she stated, “I wished a scene the place she is with out her armor, the unpeeled scene within the resort room — simply to see that face with out it protecting glaze, to glimpse the lady within the businesswoman.”
Anne Hathaway filming “The Satan Wears Prada” on the Museum of Pure Historical past in New York Metropolis, October 2005
Photograph: James Devaney/WireImage
Hathaway was low on the record of actresses thought of for the function
Whereas Streep might have been the primary option to play Priestly, the studio was decided to solid Rachel McAdams reverse her as Andy. McAdams was coming off box-office successes The Pocket book and Imply Ladies, however she repeatedly turned down the function (in addition to quite a lot of different potential gigs in high-profile movies throughout that interval) in an effort to get away from extra mainstream materials.
Hathaway later stated that she’d made her case to the studio, together with tracing the phrases “Rent me” within the sand of a Zen backyard in-studio exec Carla Hacken’s workplace. However Hathaway had director Frankel in her nook, and as she instructed Selection, “I didn’t need to audition. I needed to be affected person. I wasn’t the primary alternative.” In 2021, throughout a digital look on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Hathaway revealed that she’d really been the ninth alternative for the function.
Emily Blunt’s character wasn’t meant to be British
Casting the remainder of the movie was no simpler. Stanley Tucci didn’t signal on to play Nigel till 72 hours earlier than his first time on set. And producers auditioned greater than 100 actresses for the function of Emily, Priestly’s senior assistant. British actress Emily Blunt was on the identical studio lot throughout this era, doing a number of rounds of auditions and callbacks for one more movie, the dragon fantasy movie Eragon, which might later open to scathing critiques.
A casting agent engaged on The Satan Wears Prada filmed an audition with Blunt, who was casually wearing denims and flip-flops as a result of she was operating late for a flight dwelling to London. Regardless of her character’s American origins, she did the scene in a strict British accent, and the tape received over Frankel. As soon as the producers of Eragon formally handed on casting Blunt, Frankel shortly had her fly again for a gathering with Fox 2000 execs to seal the deal.
Streep based mostly her efficiency on some shocking folks
On the first desk learn earlier than filming, the solid and crew have been wanting to see how Streep would method her outsized character. As Hathaway stated, “I believe all of us had an thought of what Miranda would sound like. It was a strident, bossy, barking voice.” As an alternative, Streep shocked everybody. “When Meryl opened her mouth and mainly whispered, all people within the room drew a collective gasp. It was so sudden and good,” Hathaway recalled.
Streep, who famously stayed in character all through your entire shoot, later admitted that she had gotten the thought for her voice from actor Clint Eastwood. “He by no means, ever, ever raises his voice and everybody has to lean in to pay attention, and he’s mechanically probably the most highly effective individual within the room,” she stated. She based mostly Priestly’s reducing, observant humorousness on her shut good friend and frequent collaborator, director Mike Nichols.
Hathaway needed to acquire — after which lose — weight for the movie
After signing on, Hathaway stated that the producers requested her to achieve 10 kilos to visually reinforce the fish out of water environment her (already skinny) character experiences within the cut-throat, weight-obsessed world of the style trade. Hathaway fortunately obliged, scarfing down beer, ice cream and pizza.
However when she met with designer Patricia Discipline, she was instructed she wanted to shed the burden with the intention to match into the couture outfits. It took Hathaway a month to achieve the burden, and two months to drop it.
Meryl Streep (L) and costume designer Patricia Discipline on the set of “The Satan Wears Prada”
Photograph: ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Assortment
Streep wore Karan, not Prada
Stylist and designer Discipline received her begin in New York’s downtown punk scene within the Sixties and ’70s. However she’s in all probability finest recognized for her work on one other NYC cultural and elegance icon, Intercourse and the Metropolis. Throughout her first assembly with Streep, the actress stated he wished to base her total look on late Harper’s Weird editor Liz Tilberis, and her vibrant white hair on legendary mannequin Carmen Dell’Orefice.
Fields instantly turned to designer and good friend Donna Karan, scouring Karan’s style archives for garments from the ’80s and ’90s to create Streep’s wardrobe. However different designers proved warier, maybe involved about blowback from the highly effective Wintour. Fields cobbled collectively what she might from her contacts, however the movie’s costume finances ultimately grew to $1 million.
Finances considerations nearly scuttled the movie’s ending
With a decent finances and a restricted capturing schedule, Frankel and the producers have been instructed that they might not movie on location in Paris for the finale part of the movie set throughout Vogue Week. They ultimately relented, permitting Frankel to fly there on a weekend to shoot some places. They have been impressed sufficient along with his “sizzle” reel to up the finances, permitting for 2 days on location.
However only for Hathaway and Simon Baker, who performed a roguish author and love curiosity for Andy. That was it. As Frankel instructed Indiewire, “We weren’t allowed to carry Meryl to Paris. She by no means went to Paris. We used inexperienced display of her within the Mercedes, half shot on stage and utilizing plates for Paris; she steps out of the Mercedes onto the steps of the Museum of the Metropolis of New York, and we used large photographs of her double in Paris.”
Blunt and Tucci are actually household
In 2010, the lately widowed Tucci attended Blunt’s marriage ceremony to actor John Krasinksi, the place he met her sister, Felicity. The 2 hit it off and have been wed in 2012, with friends together with Blunt and Streep. “Stanley is in my precise household,” Blunt instructed Selection. “How horrifying is that? He’s married to my sister. All due to The Satan Wears Prada.”
