What Anne Hathaway Has to Say About a Devil Wears Prada Sequel

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Originally appeared on E! Online

Details of a potential Devil Wears Prada sequel do not interest Anne Hathaway.

In fact, the Oscar winner said she would much rather "make something else" with her former castmates Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep, who she recently reunited with on the 2024 SAG Awards stage as a presenter.

"I don't think a continuation of that story is probably ever gonna happen," Anne exclusively told E! News of their 2006 movie, which was adapted from the Lauren Weisberger novel of the same name. "But I think we will continue to give out awards to other people, so I think there's a future for that." (For more from her interview, tune in to E! News tonight, March 19 at 11 p.m.)

Although she "would love" to see the three of them team up with director David Frankel again—and not to mention that a follow-up book titled Revenge Wears Prada does exist—Anne believes the screen adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada should stand alone. After all, as she put it, it's what makes the movie so charming even after all these years.

Anne Hathaway Through the Years

More from E! Online

"The truth of the matter is—with any film—all we can do is make it," the 41-year-old said of the continual fan support. "The reason that movie felt so special was that we were a team and we did that work, but really it's the love that everybody pours to it."

Quipping viewers "don't need to worry about a sequel," Anne added, "Let's just keep the thing that we all agree with love."

Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, 2024 SAG Awards
Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images

That's also the same energy she's bringing to The Idea of You, her upcoming movie based on Robinne Lee's widely-popular book. Shooting down speculation that her onscreen love interest is based on Harry Styles, she told E! News, "Everyone needs to chill."

"Sorry, I probably shouldn't be that reactive about it," she continued. "I just think no."

As for her costar Nicholas Galitzine? He pointed out that he drew more inspiration from other pop acts than from the One Direction alum.

"There were so many amazing references we used: BTS for a lot of the choreography, which was really great," he noted. "There's so many references out there."

The Idea of You premieres on Prime Video May 2. In the meantime, keep reading for all the secrets about The Devil Wears Prada.

<p>1. The film version of<em> The Devil Wears Prada</em> was in the works before the book even hit shelves. The first 100 pages and an outline were enough to sell Fox executives on the roman-à-clef based on author <strong>Lauren Weisberger</strong>'s brief stint at <em>Vogue</em> as editor-in-chief <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/anna_wintour" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Anna Wintour;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><strong>Anna Wintour</strong></a>'s assistant. "I was the first person to read it at Fox 2000," the studio's former executive vice president <strong>Carla Hacken </strong>told <a href="https://variety.com/2016/film/features/the-devil-wears-prada-turns-10-meryl-streep-anne-hathaway-and-emily-blunt-tell-all-1201802311/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Variety;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><em>Variety</em></a> in 2016. "I thought Miranda Priestly was one of the greatest villains ever. I remember we aggressively went in and scooped it up." <br><br>The adaption began ahead of <em>The New York Times</em> bestseller's 2003 release, but after four writers took a stab at crafting a direct narrative, <strong>Aline Brosh McKenna</strong> was tasked with creating a new script focused on the sacrifices women make to move up the masthead at fashion magazines. "I wrote a draft pretty quickly—it took me about a month," McKenna told the outlet. "Then I rewrote it based on everybody's notes."</p>


<p>2. The lore of Wintour created a lot of difficulties for production. "I had enormous trouble finding anyone in the fashion world who'd talk to me, because people were afraid of Anna and <em>Vogue</em>, not wanting to be blackballed," McKenna told <a href="https://ew.com/movies/devil-wears-prada-cast-reunion/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Entertainment Weekly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><em>Entertainment Weekly</em></a> of her research. "There was one person who spoke to me, whose name I will never divulge, who read it and said, 'The people in this movie are too nice. No one in that world is too nice. They don't have to be, and they don't have time to be.' After that, I did a pass to make everyone a bit busier and meaner."<br><br>Wintour's sizable reach made it difficult to secure locations, director <strong>David Frankel</strong> admitted to <em>EW</em>. "The Met Ball meant that the Metropolitan Museum wanted nothing to do with us," he said. Bryant Park—at the time, the long-running site of New York Fashion Week—was out as well. "Even these iconic apartment buildings we saw as possibilities for Miranda's apartment, the co-op boards wouldn't let us in," he shared. Eventually, they borrowed a five-story Upper East Side town house from a friend of producer <strong>Wendy Finerman</strong>. </p>


<p>3. But there was one set they nailed. "The only contact we had with <em>Vogue</em> was <strong>Jess Gonchor</strong>, the production designer, who snuck into their offices to get a look at Anna's office," Frankel revealed to <em>EW</em>. "He was able to re-create the office so authentically that I was told Anna redecorated hers immediately after the movie came out."</p>


<p>4. The wardrobe presented a unique challenge as well. Initially, Frankel told <em>EW</em>, they couldn't convince any notable designers to lend pieces for the film: "They just didn't want to incur the wrath of Anna."<br><br>Enter legendary costumer <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1193644/inside-the-closet-of-emily-in-paris-your-new-favorite-sex-and-the-city-like-binge" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Patricia Field;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><strong>Patricia Field</strong></a>, who worked her magic, assembling a lineup of some 150 pieces from Donna Karan, Zac Posen, Rick Owens and, yes, Prada, taking care to differentiate <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/meryl_streep" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Meryl Streep;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><strong>Meryl Streep</strong></a>'s exacting Miranda Priestly from Wintour. "She borrowed everything; we had to be very careful not to eat spaghetti at lunch," noted Streep, "because it'd go down the front and they couldn't return it!"</p>


<p>5. And Wintour has at least a <em>slight</em> sense of humor about the whole thing. Streep <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/892833/meryl-streep-s-feminist-interview-with-anna-wintour-makes-all-our-devil-wears-prada-dreams-come-true" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:sat down with the Vogue head;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">sat down with the <em>Vogue</em> head</a> for the fashion bible's 125th anniversary issue, sharing her experience portraying Wintour's late friend <strong>Katherine Graham</strong> in 2017's <em>The Post</em>. Asked about the most challenging character she's ever played, Streep responded, "Oh! I should say..." trailing off as Wintour jumped in. "No, no!" she said with a laugh. "We're not going there, Meryl."<br><br>6. And she <em>did</em> attend a screening—the same one, in fact, as her former aide Weisberger. "It was entertainment," Wintour <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/932366/inside-anna-wintour-s-private-world" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:later told 60 Minutes;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">later told <em>60 Minutes</em></a> of the film. "It was not a true rendition of what happens within this magazine." </p>


<p>7. Streep was the only choice to play Miranda, with studio VP Hacken admitting to <em>Variety</em> that they hadn't actually considered any other actresses. "I don't remember anything other than, 'Please God—let it be Meryl,'" she said. When the Oscar winner's agent phoned saying she had read the script and would meet with the director, Hacken placed him on a brief hold to celebrate. "I was shouting in my office."<br><br>Streep told <em>EW </em>she appreciated the character's toughness and determination not to make herself less than: "I liked that there wasn't any backing away from the horrible parts of her, and the real scary parts of her had to do with the fact that she didn't try to ingratiate, which is always the female emollient in any situation where you want your way—what my friend <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/carrie_fisher" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Carrie Fisher;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><strong>Carrie Fisher</strong></a> used to call 'the squeezy and tilty' of it all. [Miranda] didn't do any of that."</p>


<p>8. Before accepting the part, Streep made a very Miranda Priestly-like move. Despite having already collected two Oscars and another 11 nominations by that point, Streep hadn't quite mastered the art of asking for more pay. But this time, she spoke up. "The offer was, to my mind slightly, if not insulting, not perhaps reflective of my actual value to the project," she explained to <em>Variety</em>. "There was my 'goodbye moment,' and then they doubled the offer. I was 55, and I had just learned, at a very late date, how to deal on my own behalf."<br><br>9. She had other demands as well. Cautious about turning Miranda into a caricature, Streep insisted on two scenes: What she called "the business of fashion," in which the trendsetter schooled Andy on her cerulean sweater, and "a scene where she is without her armor, the unpeeled scene in the hotel room." <br><br>The white hair was her creation as well, Streep turning up with her icy locks for a sit-down with the head of the studio. As director Frankel recalled to <em>EW</em>, "Meryl channeled Miranda in that meeting, and there was no conversation about the hair; they looked into Meryl's eyes and never said a word."</p>


<p>10. <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/anne_hathaway" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Anne Hathaway;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><strong>Anne Hathaway</strong></a> had to work harder for her part than assistant Andy toiled for Miranda. Okay, maybe not <em>that</em> hard, but <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1240356/anne-hathaway-recalls-almost-not-being-cast-in-the-devil-wears-prada-13-secrets-about-the-film" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:as she put it;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">as she put it</a> during an appearance on <em>RuPaul's Drag Race</em>, "I was the ninth choice for <em>Devil Wears Prada</em>."<br><br>Though Hathaway noted to <em>Variety</em> that she didn't have to audition, "I had to be patient." And launch a full-blown campaign that included tracing the words "hire me" in the sand of Hacken's zen garden. When Hathaway finally got the news, she was in her bedroom putting on a shirt. "I had some buddies over," she told the outlet. "I remember running out in my living room, half dressed, screaming—'I got <em>The Devil Wears Prada</em>! I got <em>The Devil Wears Prada</em>!'"</p>


<p>11. Fortunately for Hathaway, execs' first choice turned them down. Repeatedly. "We offered it to <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/rachel_mcadams" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Rachel McAdams;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><strong>Rachel McAdams</strong></a> three times," director Frankel told <em>EW</em> of the actress, then filming Fox's <em>The Family Stone</em>. Coming off <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1036665/lindsay-lohan-as-regina-james-franco-as-aaron-and-an-unlikely-original-title-15-secrets-about-mean-girls-that-are-so-fetch" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Mean Girls;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><em>Mean Girls</em></a> and <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1283099/all-of-the-stars-who-were-almost-cast-in-the-notebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:The Notebook;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><em>The Notebook</em></a>, McAdams said she didn't want to dive into another mainstream flick. Said Frankel, "The studio was determined to have her, and she was determined not to do it."<br><br>Streep—and Hathaway's turn in the 2005 Oscar winner <em>Brokeback Mountain</em>—helped seal the deal for <em>The Princess Diaries</em> alum. "Meryl watched that scene from the movie," Frankel recalled, "she met with her and called up <strong>Tom Rothman</strong> at Fox and said, 'Yeah, this girl's great, and I think we'll work well together.'"</p>


<p>12. Casting the part of Emily was even more work. Frankel watched more than 100 woman audition for the role of Miranda's unforgiving lead assistant (among them: <strong>Tracie Thoms</strong>, who eventually came back and read for Andy's bestie Lily), but it was a casually dressed <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/emily_blunt" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Emily Blunt;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><strong>Emily Blunt</strong></a> that caught his eye. <br><br>Already on the Fox lot auditioning for a part in the 2006 fantasy film <em>Eragon</em>, a casting agent asked the Brit to read for <em>The Devil Wears Prada</em>. "But I was rushing for the airport, and I remember just being kind of flustered," Blunt <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1274631/emily-blunt-admits-the-embarrassing-reason-she-was-asked-to-redo-her-devil-wears-prada-audition" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:revealed on The Late Late Show;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">revealed on <em>The Late Late Show</em></a> in May. "So I read it, but I was wearing sweatpants, and I did not look the part at all."<br><br>Days later, drowning her sorrows over not booking <em>Eragon</em>, Blunt received a call from Frankel. "I was in some dive club in London," Blunt detailed to <em>Variety</em>. "I called him back from the bathroom. He said, 'Listen I would have cast you off the tape, but the studio wants to see you one more time. Can you do what you did but dress the part more?'"</p>


<p>13. She already <em>sounded</em> the part. Though Emily was originally written as American, once screenwriter McKenna heard Blunt deliver the biting one-liners with her British accent, "we went to a coffee shop, went through the script, and peppered it with Britishisms," McKenna told <em>EW</em>. <br><br>And Blunt deserves full credit for one bit she lifted from a stressed-out mom. "I guess I steal from people I meet," the actress explained on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JbXVLREygo" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:The Howard Stern Show;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><em>The Howard Stern Show</em></a>. "Like, I saw a mother speaking to her child in a supermarket when we were shooting that film. And it's a line that gets quoted back to me now. She yelled at her kid and she kind of opened and closed her hand and she goes, 'Yeah, I'm hearing this, and I want to hear this.' I went and put it in the movie."</p>


<p>14. <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/stanley_tucci" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Stanley Tucci;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><strong>Stanley Tucci</strong></a> also helped craft some iconic lines. After producers spent months looking for the right fit for <em>Runway</em> art director Nigel, the actor accepted the part "at the 11th hour," Tucci told <em>EW</em>. Then he proceeded to nail Nigel's dry humor, even improvising some of the character's most quotable moments. <br><br>"I love the scene when Miranda is first coming up to the office and everyone sort of panics," Tucci reflected to <a href="https://ew.com/movies/devil-wears-prada-cast-reunion/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Buzzfeed;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Buzzfeed</a>. "We all kept laughing so hard, and David kept throwing out lines for me to say and 'Gird your loins' was the one that made it in." Among the rejects: "'Tits in!'" Tucci shared with <em>EW</em>. "That was one I made up, but every time we laughed."</p>


<p>15. Of course his favorite memento from the film is his family, Tucci remaining close enough with costar Blunt to score an invite <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1168036/how-emily-blunt-and-john-krasinski-built-a-marriage-that-leaves-us-all-feeling-just-a-little-jealous" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:to her 2010 wedding;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">to her 2010 wedding</a> to <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/john_krasinski" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:John Krasinski;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><strong>John Krasinski</strong></a>. That's where he reconnected with now-wife <strong>Felicity Blunt</strong>, he and the literary agent going on to marry in 2012 and welcome kids <strong>Matteo</strong> and <strong>Emilia</strong>. <br><br>But as Tucci recounted to <a href="https://people.com/movies/stanley-tucci-late-wife-kate-met-his-current-wife-felicity/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:People;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><em>People</em></a>, he actually met his future bride at the film's 2006 premiere. At the time he was still married to late wife <strong>Kate Tucci</strong>, who'd just received her breast cancer diagnosis. "So I did the movie, and she started treatments, and then we had the premiere, and then she was alive for four more years after that," he explained. "And, actually, Felicity—Emily's sister, my wife—she and Kate talked at the premiere that night and I have a photo of them together, which is so odd."</p>


<p>16. Like Hathaway, Thoms remembers the exact moment she got the call that she'd be playing Lily, mostly because it occurred on her 30th birthday in August 2005. The <em>Rent</em> star felt fairly confident in her audition—"At that point in my career, I had kind of slipped into this best friend space. So I was like, 'Oh, Lily's easy. That's right in my wheelhouse'"—but was still thrilled when she received word. <br><br>"I was in Dartmouth doing a workshop of a new play by <strong>Alan Ball</strong>," she recalled to E! News. And it was in the cafeteria, over lunch, that she got the news. "It was like, 'Hey, so you booked <em>Devil Wears Prada</em>. Happy birthday!'" she shared. "It was a good birthday memory."</p>


<p>17. Thoms also remembers watching <a href="https://www.eonline.com/ap/news/adrian_grenier" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Adrian Grenier;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><strong>Adrian Grenier</strong></a>—then at the height of his <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/entourage" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Entourage;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><em>Entourage</em></a> fame—getting mobbed by fans and deftly dealing with each request for an autograph by handing out copies of his alt-folk band The Honey Brothers' CD instead. "He was using that opportunity to promote his band members, because he was not the frontman of the band," Thoms noted of Grenier, <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1280031/is-nate-the-villain-of-devil-wears-prada-adrian-grenier-says-?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:cast as Andy's boyfriend Nate;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">cast as Andy's boyfriend Nate</a>. "I thought that was really great how he dealt with everybody very specifically and appreciated their support, and tried to ricochet that support onto his colleagues." </p>


<p>18. While Thoms had an altogether fantastic experience—"We were all like, 'Oh my god, it's like we're doing <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/sex_and_the_city" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Sex and the City;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><em>Sex and the City</em></a>.' We weren't, but it still had that very New York, very metropolitan, very trying to be grownup thing about it"—she does have <em>one</em> regret. <br><br>She had a whole plan for the Marc Jacobs bag that Lily (and Thoms) salivated over in one key scene. "I asked the prop department to not show me the purse before we were rolling, because I wanted the reaction to be genuine," she said. "That, like, gasping and grabbing and 'Gimme, gimme!', that happened because that purse was gorgeous." <br><br>So gorgeous, in fact, "I had a whole plot in my brain on how to keep the purse," she admitted to E! News. "And then the scene where I was going to somehow forget to leave the purse in my trailer, that scene got cut. So I never went back to work to get the purse. It was very sad."</p>


<p>19. Streep was the woman who didn't go to Paris. Initially <em>no one</em> was set to visit the City of Light to capture footage for the final scenes of Miranda and Andy's big trip to Paris Fashion Week. "I was aghast," Frankel told <em>Variety</em>. But midway through production he was able to put together a sizzle reel that convinced the studio to make the film a summer release with an increased budget. <br><br>Hathaway and <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/simon_baker" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Simon Baker;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><strong>Simon Baker</strong></a> (as her <em>other</em> love interest, writer Christian) flew to France for two days of shooting, but Streep filmed her portions in New York, the studio claiming her travel would be much too pricey. </p>


<p>20. Actually, Streep missed out on <em>a lot</em> of the fun. Making the choice to fully step into her Miranda demeanor and largely remove herself from any on-set banter "was horrible," the actress later reflected to <em>EW</em>. "I could hear them all rocking and laughing. I was so depressed! I said, 'Well, it's the price you pay for being boss!' That's the last time I ever attempted a Method thing!"<br><br>But before Streep went ice cold, she gave the briefest of pep talks, Hathaway recalled to <a href="https://people.com/archive/anne-hathaway-vol-66-no-2/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:People;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><em>People</em></a>, saying, "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."<br><br>That's all. </p>