Meryl Streep Almost Lost A Big Role, Because Producers Didn’t Think She Was Funny Enough

Highlights

• Meryl Streep almost lost the role of Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada because producers doubted her ability to handle the film’s lighthearted tone.
• Despite initial skepticism, Streep proved critics wrong, earning an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win for her role in the movie.
• Meryl Streep struggled to get into character as Miranda Priestly and found method acting to be miserable, but her co-stars Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt admired her talent and felt cared for by her during filming.

Meryl Streep is considered one of the best actresses of all time, but she nearly lost out on this iconic role. Streep almost lost out on the role of Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada because the producers didn’t think she could handle the lighthearted tone of the dramedy.

“People thought we were crazy,” producer Wendy Finerman said about the reactions to Meryl Streep being cast in the 2006 movie. Although her role as the stern fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly is now iconic, the producers questioned whether she could pull off the comedic side of the role.

Meryl Streep proved critics and audiences wrong, even earning an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win for her role in the movie.

Why Producers Almost Didn’t Cast Meryl Streep In The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada producer Wendy Finerman told Hollywood Gold podcast host Daniela Taplin Lundberg that Meryl Streep was almost passed over for the role of Miranda Priestly because, behind the scenes, the production team thought the actress “has never been funny a day in her life.”

While the producers of the 2006 film knew Anne Hathaway was right for the role because she was “a good, all-American girl,” they were less convinced by Streep. She was more famous for her serious roles in movies like The Deer Hunter, Sophie’s Choice and Kramer Vs. Kramer.

“And Meryl, people thought we were crazy. I mean, I had people call me up and say, ‘Are you out of your mind? She’s never been funny a day in her life,’” Wendy Finerman explained to the podcast host.

Finerman mentioned other comedic roles for Streep, including her performance in her film Death Becomes Her. “She has been funny, and they were wrong,” she said. “But this was clearly a different kind of world for her. I think that that was part of the fun of the unexpected of seeing her amidst in outfits.”

How Mery Streep Struggled To Get Into Character For The Devil Wea

Meryl Streep admitted she struggled to get into Miranda Priestly’s character, even after trying method acting. “I was so depressed!” the Out Of Africa star told Entertainment Weekly in a 2021 interview. “I said, ‘Well, it’s the price you pay for being boss!’ That’s the last time I ever attempted a method thing!”

Meryl Streep describes how she would isolate herself from her co-stars, so she wouldn’t have to ice them out on set. “I was [miserable] in my trailer. I could hear them all rocking and laughing.”

In a conversation with Brian Cox, Streep’s co-star Emily Blunt described the Oscar-winner as “amazing” but “slightly terrifying” on the set of The Devil Wears Prada. The Oppenheimer actress also admitted Streep didn’t enjoy method acting.

“She said it was one of the first times she’s tried Method acting. But it made her so miserable, playing Miranda,” said Blunt, who played Priestly’s senior assistant, Emily.

Anne Hathaway, who played Andrea Sachs, agreed that Streep was “intimidating” on set but added that she “always felt cared for” by the legendary actress.

“She was approachable on set, but just in her own sort of vortex,” Emily revealed before adding that any stories about Meryl’s hash method acting techniques were “so not representative” of how “warm” and “wonderful” she was.

Despite being “miserable” on set, Streep was just at the top of her game. “I remember seeing Meryl come up with 18 different lines on the spot. Stanley Tucci was doing the same, and you,” Anne Hathaway recalled.

“I was just like this kindergartner who was like, ‘How are they all so good?’ I knew that whatever she was doing to create that fear, I appreciated [because] I also knew she was watching out for me,” Hathaway revealed.

In hindsight, Hathaway wishes Streep could have joined in the on-set fun. “You know, I think [Meryl] always wanted to join in on the fun with us. She kept herself so in character.”

“A deer in headlights,” Hathaway affirmed. “You know, I think [Meryl] always wanted to join in on the fun with us. She kept herself so in character.”

How Anne Hathaway And Emily Blunt Felt Working On The Devil Wears Prada

In Variety’s Actors On Actors, The Devil Wears Prada’s co-stars Emily Blunt and Anne Hathaway paired up to reminisce about making the iconic movie together.

“I was so green coming into that situation,” Emily Blunt told Hathaway during the recent discussion. “And you were like the warmest embrace. Even though you were a colossal movie star at that time, you treated me like a complete equal. You are one of the people I’ve known longest. We’ve known each other for 18 years.”

Although Emily Blunt struggled to remember meeting Anne Hathaway, the Oscar-winning actress remembers meeting Blunt. Hathaway promptly replied, “This is so embarrassing, because I remember every second of the first time I met you. I’m so much more into you than you are into me. It’s fine. It’s fine.”

The Love and Other Drugs star described her first impression of her costar. “I was hearing that your name came up, and they said, ‘It’s this amazing girl out of England and she’s so funny.’ And I remember walking into the room and turning and meeting you. In my head—instant thought—I was like, What a movie star!” she explained. “You were shedding stardust. Then we went for coffee. I took you for a walk around where I live.”

Blunt is thankful for how the film changed her life. “We just had a joy bomb of a time on that movie. I don’t know if any of us knew it was going to become what it did. It’s quoted to me every week. It will be the movie that changed my life.”

Source: NewsFinale