FILM · 2006 · USA
The Devil Wears Prada
- Directed by
- David Frankel
- Runtime
- 109 min
- Studio
- Fox 2000 Pictures, Wendy Finerman Productions, Dune Entertainment
108 archived facts 8 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
A young woman from the Midwest gets more than she bargained for when she moves to New York to become a writer and ends up as the assistant to the tyrannical, larger-than-life editor-in-chief of a major fashion magazine.
Summary: TMDB
76 Interesting Facts About The Devil Wears Prada
- #001
On the first day of shooting, Meryl Streep told Anne Hathaway, "I think you're perfect for the role. I'm so happy we're going to be working together." She then paused and added, "That's the last nice thing I'll say to you." And it was.
- #004
All the costumes were sold at auction to benefit breast cancer research. Anne Hathaway bought the green dress her character wears. The only item Meryl Streep kept was the pair of sunglasses she wore as Donna in the famous "Money Money Money" scene of the 2008 film Mamma Mia!
- #005
(At about the 59th minute) Emily Blunt said she stole the sharp dialogue from a mother she heard shouting at her child in the street. The line was accompanied by the hand gestures Blunt also imitated on screen: "Yeah, I'm hearing 'this' (talking), and I want to hear, 'this' (silence)."
- #006
Contains a major spoiler — show
(At about 1 hour 20 minutes) It was Meryl Streep's idea for Miranda to appear without makeup in the scene where she opens up to Andrea and worries about the effect the public disclosure of her divorce will have on her daughters.
- #007
The production's only contact with Vogue was production designer Jess Gonchor, who sneaked into Anna Wintour's office to take a look around. He managed to recreate it so faithfully that Anna is said to have redecorated it right after the film came out.
- #008
Contains a major spoiler — show
(At about 1 hour 35 minutes) In the final scene between Miranda and Andy, Andy asks Miranda whether the life she leads is what she wanted. Miranda replies: "Everyone wants this. Everyone wants to be us." The original line was "Everyone wants to be me." Meryl Streep, however, did not much like the line, finding it too selfish and dramatic. At the script's table read, Streep organically changed the line to "Everyone wants to be us." The change stuck and was used in the film.
- #010
In the script, the character Emily, played by Emily Blunt, was not supposed to be English. Blunt thought it would be more interesting and would make her look a bit more authoritative. She can be seen running in the background in a few scenes, but this was never written or directed. She felt her character would always be busy and wanted to keep her alive in the film. Most of her wardrobe in particular is from Vivienne Westwood.
- #012
Emily Blunt said in 2016 that at least one stranger quotes a line from the film to her every week. Her own husband, John Krasinski, jokes that he has watched the film 75 times.
- #014
Only two days of the production took place in Paris. Flying Meryl Streep to Europe was too expensive, so her scenes were shot in the US.
- #015
Lauren Weisberger, the author of the original novel, is reported to have based the character Emily on the writer and former assistant to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Plum Sykes. Sykes worked at Vogue at the same time as Weisberger.
- #016
Costume designer Patricia Field initially had difficulty getting clothes from many designers. Some showed their showrooms even if they did not want to take part, or gave notes about the script's realism. It was Prada that helped break the ice by saying Anna would not be upset. Vogue and other major women's and fashion magazines, however, avoided examining the book or even mentioning it.
- #018
Meryl Streep based her character's ice-cold, quiet voice on Clint Eastwood's style of directing a set. As for Miranda's look, Streep had in mind the famous 85-year-old model Carmen Dell'Orefice, known for her distinctive white bouffant. "I wanted a cross between her and the unassailable elegance and authority of Christine Lagarde." The producers were initially not keen on this, but changed their minds when Meryl first directed Miranda in a meeting.
- #019
Anne Hathaway prepared for the role by volunteering as an assistant at an auction house for a week.
- #020
(At about 54 minutes) The author of the book on which the film is based has a tiny role as the nanny of the twins, who are not named in the credits.
- #021
Contains a major spoiler — show
At around the 1 hour 40 minute mark, the New York Mirror hires Andy. The Mirror was a real newspaper that ceased publication in 1898. It often published first editions of Edgar Allan Poe.
- #022
Behind Emily's desk, next to the fax machine, a "Runway" issue is displayed. It features a cover with three models. It is based on the real August 2004 VOGUE cover featuring Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough.
- #023
Contains a major spoiler — show
The book Miranda asks Andy to pick up for her twin daughters is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. One of the prop books used in the film sold at an online auction for $586, with the proceeds going to Dress for Success, a nonprofit that helps more than 45,000 disadvantaged women transition into the workforce each year.
- #024
Anne Hathaway actually went from a size 6 to a size 4 during filming.
- #025
Six years after Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt worked together on this film, Tucci married Blunt's sister Felicity. Emily was a bridesmaid.
- #027
Production dragged on for weeks because locations could not be secured, owing to people's loyalty to Anna Wintour, who they felt was being harmed or demeaned. They worked around the fact that Meryl Streep, an admired and respected actress, wanted to make the film. However, they could not secure the Met Ball scenes because the Metropolitan Museum wanted nothing to do with them, and Fashion Week meant Bryant Park and the co-op boards would not allow production in the apartment buildings that were possibilities for Miranda's apartment.
- #028
Writer Aline Brosh McKenna could not find anyone in the fashion world willing to talk to her because people were afraid of being blacklisted by Anna Wintour and Vogue. She noted that one person who did speak with her and read the script said the characters were too nice: "No one in that world is too nice. They don't have to be, and they don't have time to be." She then made a pass to make everyone a bit busier and more ill-intentioned.
- #029
Contains a major spoiler — show
The role of Miranda Priestly was actually written for Glenn Close, but because Close said "I was sick of being typecasted playing villainous roles," the producers chose Meryl Streep.
- #030
It was initially a spring release, until 20th Century Fox decided to launch it as counterprogramming against Superman Returns (2006). In the end, "Devil" surpassed "Superman" in international box office revenue.
- #032
For the photo of Andrea with her parents, Anne Hathaway posed with her own mother, Kate McCauley Hathaway, and David Marshall Grant.
- #034
The daytime Paris scenes in which Miranda and Andy are in the back of a car. The S-class Mercedes was physically cut in two to achieve the camera angles. It was a pre-production model that the producers could never sell and that was already going to be disposed of.
- #035
It was shot in 57 days. The final cut was completed in three weeks.
- #038
The repeated need for Hermès scarves comes from the novel, in which, as in the film, it is Miranda's trademark to always have a white Hermès scarf somewhere on her body.
- #040
The novel sold over a million copies, stayed at number one for ten weeks and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for a year. The film was also a major box office success. The novel has since been published in forty languages.
- #042
Meryl Streep nearly left the production in its early stages because she was unhappy with her salary.
- #043
Contains a major spoiler — show
The film departs considerably from the book. In the novel Miranda's cruel nature is more pronounced; for the film they decided to soften the character, keeping her just as authoritarian but reasoning that Miranda staying calm while making impossible demands would be funnier. Nigel is only a minor character in the book and a flamboyant gay stereotype; his role was expanded for the film and, although he is probably gay, Stanley Tucci's portrayal is more subtle (he looks at men at the fashion shoot). In the novel Miranda is also British and Emily is American, and in the film these are swapped; Emily Blunt insisted that Emily be British. Finally, Lily's accident in the book becomes Emily's accident: Lily becomes an alcoholic after witnessing Runway's effect on Andy, but in the book she gets into a taxi rather than being hit by one as Emily is.
- #044
Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt later reunited for a "Devil Wears Prada reunion battle" on Lip Sync Battle (2015). For Hathaway it was a reunion, and Blunt noted that, unlike their relationship in the film, they are best friends in real life.
- #045
The Elias-Clarke Publishing building was actually the McGraw-Hill Publishing offices at 49th and 6th in Midtown Manhattan.
- #046
(At about 5 minutes in) The first bag we see Miranda carry into the office is, fittingly, a Prada bag.
- #047
Contains a major spoiler — show
(At about 1 hour 11 minutes) In the film Emily is hit by a taxi, which prevents her from going to Paris. In the novel Emily contracts mononucleosis, which means she cannot go. In the book Emily talks about how hard it is to convince Miranda that mono is a real illness.
- #048
Meryl Streep's daughter Mamie Gummer played a Starbucks barista, but her scene was cut for pacing.
- #050
Contains a major spoiler — show
(At about 57 minutes) Nigel tells Andy that her promotion will come when her whole life is ruined. But when she is promoted from second assistant to first assistant, she hits rock bottom (losing her boyfriend, her friends being angry with her, and so on).
- #051
Contains a major spoiler — show
(At about 1 hour 7 minutes) When Miranda tells Andy that she will go to Paris instead of Emily, Andy is wearing a Chanel necklace with Eiffel Tower charms.
- #053
Stephanie Szostak, who plays Jacqueline Follet, worked in Chanel's marketing department before becoming an actress.
- #054
In the book Andy's boyfriend is a teacher named Alex. In the film he is a chef named Nate.
- #056
As Andy walks past the stores at night (at about 1:09:12), she passes a shop window that mirrors the cover of Lauren Weisberger's original novel.
- #058
Three years after this film was released, Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci would play husband and wife in Julie & Julia (2009), as the famous chef Julia Child and the American diplomat Paul Child.
- #059
Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway both attended Vassar College, though not at the same time.
- #061
This is the second film in which one of Anne Hathaway's characters undergoes a major transformation; the first was The Princess Diaries (2001).
- #062
Runway is a fictional version of Vogue.
- #063
Some viewers criticized Andy for being unprepared when she interviews with Miranda. However, a deleted scene that came before it provided context. In the scene, Andy meets with the HR director of Runway's parent company, Elias-Clarke (the HR director is played by Annabelle Gurwitch). She tells Andy there are two positions: an assistant editor job at Auto Universe and an assistant job at Runway. Andy recounts all of this to Miranda, but the extra scene would have made clear that Andy had no time to research the Runway interview and had not specifically aimed to work there.
- #066
In one of the opening scenes, Nigel asks Miranda questions about Andy and says, "Who is this sad little person? Are we doing a before and after piece that I don't know about?" The line foreshadows Andy's real evolution over the course of the film.
- #067
Before every take, Emily Blunt made farting noises.
- #068
Anne Hathaway's boyfriend at the time, real estate developer Raffaello Follieri, looked quite a lot like her on-screen partner Nate and resented her having to work late. Like the film, the relationship did not last long, and Follieri was later sentenced to four years in prison for embezzlement.
- #070
At the first read-through, everyone was surprised that Meryl Streep played her scenes in a soft voice rather than barking orders. It was a smart decision on Streep's part, because she knew that by speaking quietly she would force everyone around Miranda to listen carefully and weigh her every word.
- #071
At about 1 minute in, the job interview date shown in Andrea's appointment book is Monday, March 13, 2006.
- #073
The role of "Nigel" was offered to Javier Cámara, but he did not accept it.
- #074
According to Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep kept a professional distance on set to avoid breaking character in an environment where Hathaway and Emily Blunt were constantly joking around, staying quiet and focused between takes.
- #076
Initially, largely at the request of director David Frankel and producer Wendy Finerman, Aline Brosh McKenna had softened Miranda's ruthlessness in the script. However, Meryl Streep thought differently and insisted on increasing Priestley's coldness.
- #079
Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt reunite in the 2014 musical Into the Woods, adapted from the Stephen Sondheim stage musical. Streep played the Witch and Blunt played the Baker's Wife.
- #080
Thomas Lennon turned down the role of Nigel because of a scheduling conflict with Reno 911! (2003).
- #081
Both Anne Hathaway and Stanley Tucci were set to appear in the remake of The Witches (1990), The Witches (2020).
- #084
The most expensive fashion item shown in the film was Miranda's $100,000 Fred Leighton necklace.
- #087
Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt became friends while shooting this film. In 2008 Hathaway played Mary Poppins in a sketch on Saturday Night Live (1975), and Blunt would go on to play the same character in Mary Poppins Returns (2018).
- #089
(About 3 minutes in) At the beginning, when Andy enters the office building. This is at 1221 Avenue of the Americas on W. 49th St., New York City.
- #090
Stanley Tucci chose the glasses worn by his character, Nigel.
- #091
In this film, Meryl Streep plays the boss of Emily Blunt's character. In It's Complicated (2009), Streep plays the mother-in-law of the husband of John Krasinski's character, Emily Blunt.
- #092
After The Princess Diaries (2001), Ella Enchanted (2004) and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), Anne Hathaway played a Cinderella character for the fourth time.
- #093
20th Century Fox snapped up the film rights to Lauren Weisberger's novel before the novel was even completed.
- #094
(At about 4 minutes) In the English audio track, Nigel says Miranda should not arrive until 9 o'clock. In the French audio track, however, she should not arrive until 9:15.
- #095
Andrea's boyfriend Nate wears an Alabama University Crimson Tide t-shirt in the dinner scene with his friends.
- #096
Meryl Streep was the first and only person to play Miranda Priestley.
- #097
In the 15th season episode of Law and Order titled "Mammon," Daniel Sunjata (James Holt) and Tracie Thoms (Lily) play boyfriend and girlfriend.
- #098
Tracie Thoms (Lily) and Rich Sommer (Doug) would have recurring roles in the Netflix original series Love (2016), but they had no scenes together. Judd Apatow, co-creator of that show, wrote and directed Knocked Up (2007), in which Anne Hathaway (Andy) also appeared.
- #100
After filming was completed, Meryl Streep donated all the designer clothes to charities.
- #102
Kate Hudson turned down the role of Andi because she was busy with the production of You, Me and Dupree (2006) at the time.
- #103
Both Emily Blunt and Anne Hathaway would later star alongside Steve Carell in separate films; Blunt in Dan in Real Life (2007) and Hathaway a year later in Get Smart (2008).
- #104
(At about the 51st minute) Christian stands at the northeast corner of E. 30th Street and 5th Avenue in New York City, talking on the phone.
- #105
The character Emily is based on Leslie Fremar, who is actually Canadian, not British.
- #106
Colleen Dengel and Suzanne Dengel, who play Miranda's twin daughters, were big fans of The Princess Diaries (2001) and were excited to work with Anne Hathaway.
- #107
Stanley Tucci was cast at the last minute on the recommendation of casting director Ellen Lewis.
- #108
Gisele Bündchen was offered a role in the film after screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna sat across from her on a flight to Los Angeles. Bündchen initially turned it down because she was not an actress, but accepted after being offered a role that was neither a model nor a version of herself.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work