Which of Meryl Streep’s performances is the most well-known? Kramer as Joanna vs. Kramer as Kramer? As the distraught mother in Sophie’s Choice? Miranda Priestley from The Devil Wears Prada could be it, but we believe it’s Miranda Priestley from The Devil Wears Prada! You can disagree, but you should know that this one performance absolutely depleted her. In fact, Streep’s portrayal of Priestley was so poor that she chose to change careers entirely. Who’d have thought it?
Ever Since The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep Was Never The Same Again
Rare Role For Her
Miranda Priestly is a rare antihero role for Meryl Streep. You don’t want to run into her, even though she’s a fascinating – and occasionally humorous – character to observe. Remember how she makes Andy’s life a living hell throughout the movie? She has a real-life role model as well.
Rare Role For Her
Taking The Character In A Different Direction
Yes, the actual Priestley is Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue and one of the most prominent women in the fashion industry. Lauren Weisberger was motivated to write the book based on the film by her past experiences working as Wintour’s assistant. Streep, on the other hand, went in an entirely opposite route with the role.
Taking The Character In A Different Direction
A Different Take
In 2021, Streep revealed the news at an Entertainment Weekly cast reunion. She shared, “I wasn’t interested in doing a biopic on Anna. I was interested in her position in her company. I wanted to take on the burdens she had to carry, along with having to look nice every day.”
A Different Take
A Terrifying Role
Oh, and the filmmakers were also worried of angering Wintour. As soon as knowledge of the plot came out, people in the editor’s circle backed away from The Devil Wears Prada. Screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna told Entertainment Weekly, “I had enormous trouble finding anyone in the fashion world who’d talk to me. [That’s] because people were afraid of Anna and Vogue – not wanting to be blackballed.”
A Terrifying Role
Too Nice
She went on to say, “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.”
Too Nice
Everyone’s Scared Of Her
The adjective that sprang to mind was “meaner,” as writer Plum Sykes described Wintour in the BBC documentary Boss Woman from 2000. “I’m scared of her. Everyone’s scared of her. She’s an intimidating person because she is so incredible.” She added, “Anna would never specify how you need to look, but I know that if I went into her office I would need to wear high heels and look groomed and look ‘fashion.’”
Everyone’s Scared Of Her
Everyone Wanted To Please Her
Model Gisele Bündchen, who played Serena in the film, told Entertainment Weekly about the reunion: “You just knew the people that worked at Vogue were dedicated and professional. Anna was the final word, and everyone wanted to please her…but that’s true for everything. Who doesn’t want to please their boss?” That could have been the film’s tagline.
Everyone Wanted To Please Her
She Wasn’t Offended
The picture, however, did not anger Anna Wintour when it was initially released, according to her. The terrifying editor told ABC News in 2006, “Anything that makes fashion entertaining and glamorous and interesting is wonderful for our industry. So I was 100 percent behind it.”
She Wasn’t Offended
She Watched The Screening
Wintour attended a screening of the film in May 2006. McKenna, who spoke to Entertainment Weekly, claims that “Anna came to the first screening in New York. She sat right in front of me and David [Frankel] with her daughter and wore Prada, which shows she has a great sense of humor!”
She Watched The Screening
She Liked Streep’s Portrayal
Wintour approved of Streep’s portrayal of the character based on her. According to ABC News, she stated, “I think it’s actually helpful to people that you are working with, that you can make decisions. So, if Meryl seemed somewhat strong, I respect that.” But what did Streep think about it?
She Liked Streep’s Portrayal
Interesting Take
Streep had a lot to say about the cast reunion in the Entertainment Weekly article. Miranda Priestley was an unpleasant, if fascinating, individual who had some intriguing thoughts about herself. She pondered, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely…. I liked that there wasn’t any backing away from the horrible parts of her.”
Interesting Take
She Helped Out Anne Hathaway
It comes out that Meryl Streep played a key role in Anne Hathaway’s casting as Andy, the beleaguered assistant. The studio was unsure about Hathaway’s desire for the part. They didn’t want Hathaway’s more kid-friendly stuff, which he was known for. Rachel McAdams was approached three times for the part, but she turned it down each time.
She Helped Out Anne Hathaway
She Was Great
According to Entertainment Weekly’s interview with filmmaker David Frankel, “Brokeback Mountain was about to come out. Annie had a wonderful, small role in that. And Meryl watched that scene from the movie, she met with her and called up Tom Rothman at Fox and said, ‘Yeah, this girl’s great, and I think we’ll work well together.’”
She Was Great
Overjoyed
Hathaway was overjoyed when she was cast in the part. She explained to the publication, “I remember the moment I found out I got the part, I just ran screaming through my apartment. I had a bunch of friends over at the time, I just jumped up in the living room and screamed, ‘I’m going to be in The Devil Wears Prada!’” And of course, she had her co-star to thank.
Overjoyed
White Hair
Miranda Priestley’s hair was also allowed to be white thanks to Streep’s efforts. The costume designer, Patricia Field, told Entertainment Weekly, “Meryl told me she [wanted] to have white hair.… I said to Meryl, ‘I can’t convince [the producers]. They have in their mind that white hair is gray hair.’”
White Hair
‘It’s Going To Be Great’
Former Fox 2000 president Elizabeth Gabler told the magazine, “Meryl and J. Roy Helland, who’s been at her side through so much of her career, came up with the look, which we weren’t expecting. She just said ‘My girls, don’t you worry, this is what I’m going to do and it’s going to be great.’”
‘It’s Going To Be Great’
Method Acting
David Frankel said, “The first time Meryl was Miranda Priestly was a meeting with the head of the studio. 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.” Streep was method acting.
Method Acting
Always Remained In Character
Throughout the film, Streep used method acting. She kept in character as Miranda Priestley even when the cameras weren’t rolling. She kept her co-stars Emily Blunt and Anne Hathaway at a distance, even being chilly to them at times because that’s what her character does to their characters.
Always Remained In Character
Not The Most Fun
According to Entertainment Weekly, Blunt said, “Meryl is so gregarious and fun as hell, in some ways it wasn’t the most fun for her having to remove herself. It wasn’t like she was unapproachable; You could go up to her and say, ‘Oh my God, the funniest thing just happened,’ and she’d listen, but I don’t know if it was the most fun for her to be on set being that way.”
Not The Most Fun
Full Of Praise
Thoughts similar to Hathaway’s passed through her head, yet she was full of respect for Streep. She explained to the publication, “I did feel intimidated, but I always felt cared for. I knew that whatever she was doing to create that fear, I appreciated [because] I also knew she was watching out for me.”
Full Of Praise
Bringing More Out Of Her
In a scene that Hathaway recalled, Miranda tells Andy that she’s “disappointing,” “When the camera turned on me, the pressure really got to me, and I’d had such emotional fluidity up to that point, but it just wasn’t there anymore. I remember having the experience of watching [her] watch me, and [she] altered [her] performance ever so slightly, and just made it a little bit different, and brought more out of me.”
Bringing More Out Of Her
Talking About Her Performance
The cast reunion with Entertainment Weekly wasn’t the first time Hathaway discussed her time on The Devil Wears Prada with Streep. Because she appeared on The Graham Norton Show in 2014 and detailed her relationship with her method-acting co-star.
Talking About Her Performance
Last Time She Saw ‘Meryl’
Hathaway shared, “When I met [Streep] she gave me a huge hug. [A]and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, we are going to have the best time on this movie.’ And then she’s like, ‘Ah sweetie, that’s the last time I’m nice to you.’ She then went into her trailer and came out the ice queen and that was really the last I saw of ‘Meryl’ for months, until we promoted the film.”
Last Time She Saw ‘Meryl’
Terrified Of Streep
Hathaway used to be afraid of Streep. On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2018, she said, “There’s a scene where Andy and Miranda are getting out of a car… Now, Meryl was kind of an island unto herself when we filmed this, so I didn’t get to talk to her too much. But I was going to get a whole scene to sit in a car with her. And I was just freaking out.”
Terrified Of Streep
Impressing Her
Hathaway went on to say, “And you have to understand, like talking can be hard for me… And so but, I was like, ‘I’m going to take advantage of this moment. I’m going to force myself to speak to Meryl Streep.’ But I couldn’t just talk to her. I couldn’t just be a person. I had to impress her.”
Impressing Her
Trying To Talk To Streep
Several conversation starters were thrown at Streep by the younger actress, but none of them succeeded. She explained, “And if you have anxiety, and you force yourself to talk to someone, being met with silence is like being thrown into a demonic pit. It’s so bad.” She eventually tried to bring up Jon Stewart.
Trying To Talk To Streep
She Finally Responded
Streep is believed to have asked Hathaway, “By any chance did you see the Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night? I think that he is just so brilliant. I think he is saving America.” After that, Hathaway said, she sat “in the silence thinking my life was over.” However, in a turn of events, Streep replied by saying, “No, I don’t think Jon Stewart is going to save America. I think Stephen Colbert is.” Obviously, Colbert loved that.
She Finally Responded
She Didn’t Like How She Acted
On the other hand, Streep was displeased with her performance on the Prada set. In no way, shape, or form is this true. Entertainment Weekly shared what Streep said: “It was horrible! I was [miserable] in my trailer. 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!”
She Didn’t Like How She Acted
A Different Approach
Streep has become less interested in method acting since then. She appears to be limiting herself to ways that only affect her and not her co-stars today. For the 2015 film Ricki and the Flash, she spent six months learning how to play the guitar properly, for example, all for the purpose of realism.
A Different Approach
Going All Out
In addition, Meryl Streep went all out in true Meryl Streep way. She went through significant bodily anguish since she was so determined to portray a rock star convincingly. One day, Streep contacted filmmaker Jonathan Demme and told him that her fingers were hurting from playing so hard.
Going All Out
In Danger
Streep, on the other hand, has been on the receiving end of method acting, and knowing the details makes it even less unexpected that she gave it up. Consider what happened in 1994 while she was filming The River Wild: she was on the verge of being killed. Yikes!
In Danger
Exhausted
Because the director insisted on a stunt that Streep couldn’t do because she was too tired. Streep hopped on a raft and paddled down the river, but the raft toppled over, nearly drowning her. When she was released in 1994, she alerted the Orlando Sentinel newspaper, and she told the director, “I really feel quite sure if I say that I’m too tired to do something that we have to assume I’m telling the truth.”
Exhausted
Pushing Her Over The Edge
Then there was the incident that happened on one of her prior film sets. In the 1979 film Kramer vs. Kramer, Streep’s co-star Dustin Hoffman employed the tactic to severely push her over the edge. More information regarding what transpired has become accessible over time.
Pushing Her Over The Edge
Taking It Too Far
Hoffman and Streep’s characters were supposed to be squabbling in one of the film’s early sequences. Hoffman, on the other hand, is believed to have overstepped his bounds and slapped Streep on the face, leaving a red mark. She could have reported it because it was serious enough, according to Vanity Fair writer Michael Schulman, but she didn’t.
Taking It Too Far
Bringing Up Her Boyfriend
As if that wasn’t awful enough, Hoffman apparently brought up Streep’s ex-boyfriend, John Cazale, who had recently died. He did this, it appears, in order to agitate her and make her angry, as her character should be. Before the film’s famous courtroom scene, he supposedly whispered Cazale’s name in Streep’s ear.
Bringing Up Her Boyfriend
Pleasant Off-Camera
Of course, Streep’s method acting on the set of The Devil Wears Prada is a far cry from this. Despite her physical isolation from her co-stars, they all understood why she was acting the way she was, and none of them disapproved. In fact, her off-camera friendliness and pleasantness have been the subject of some anecdotes.
Pleasant Off Camera
A Lovely Person
On the show Sunday Today in 2018, Emily Blunt commented, “There was this crazy moment when I [finished] and I remember seeing [Streep] across the parking lot. She burst out of her trailer – the wig was off. She was just Meryl. She was in a puffy jacket. She was like, ‘You were so great,’ and I was just like [crying] and I just started to weep. It was sad.”
A Lovely Person
They’re Still Friends
And, despite their on-screen chemistry, Hathaway and Streep are still pals, which should thrill Devil Wears Prada fans. In 2011, the Kennedy Center paid tribute to Streep with a large memorial program, and Hathaway led the cast of the film in a performance titled “She’s Me Pal.”
They’re Still Friends
What’s Next?
As a result, you might be wondering if The Devil Wears Prada will ever get a sequel. Streep, Hathaway, and Blunt have all remarked that they think the picture works best on its own, but that they would like to work with the same ensemble again in the future. Even though Streep froze out her co-stars in this film, it just goes to show how versatile she is as an actress and how much she can alter depending on the character! On the sets of Mamma Mia!, she was much different.
What’s Next?
Mamma Mia!
Streep starred in Mamma Mia!, a musical romantic comedy. The film was released in 2008, and it was a big success. The pair, together with Amanda Seyfried, were acclaimed for their outstanding acting, and the ABBA songs featured in the film were hugely popular. It’s incredible how Streep can go from portraying a cruel businesswoman in one film to playing a doting mother attempting to keep a business afloat while raising a daughter in another. Her range of abilities is astounding.
Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again!
Natural Singer
Streep is a terrific singer as well as an excellent actor. In the film, Streep did all of her singing herself and did a fantastic job with the ABBA songs. This wasn’t the first time Meryl had the opportunity to show off her vocal prowess on the big screen.
Natural Singer
Other Singing Roles
Meryl Streep not only wowed audiences with her singing in Mamma Mia! , but she also shined in films like The Prom, Postcards from the Edge, and Into the Woods. Den of Geek puts “Mamma Mia” as Streep’s best on-screen performance, but “I’m Checking Out” from Postcards Edge is a close second. This was Meryl’s first major musical performance in the film.
Other Singing Roles
She’s Checking Out
In the iconic drama-comedy Postcards from the Edge, Streep’s first significant musical performance was “I’m Checking Out.” Carrie Fisher’s personal connection with her movie star mother Debbie Reynolds is loosely and nakedly mirrored in Postcards from the Edge, an honest and oftentimes scathing exercise in getting things off a writer’s chest. Fisher also wanted to clear the air about her mother’s desire to push her to pursue a musical career. While Fisher fought in her own life, she allowed Suzanne Vale (Streep) to succumb to her mother Doris Mann in the fictional Suzanne Vale (Streep) (Shirley MacLaine).
She’s Checking Out
Into The Woods
In the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s renowned musical, Streep played a witch seeking eternal youth, including multiple solo performances. Meryl Streep performs “Stay With Me” in the film, and her depiction as The Witch earned her an Academy Award nod for Best Supporting Actress. Streep’s renditions of the songs “Stay with Me” and “Last Midnight” were complimented by Susan Wloszczyna of RogerEbert.com, who described her performance as “practically everyone else in the dust and by design.”
Into The Woods
Ricki and the Flash
Ricki, an elderly rocker seeking to reconnect with her adult children, was played by Meryl Streep in this song-filled non-musical. Witnessing Meryl Streep jamming on an electric guitar with her crazy hair, blue eye shadow, and high-heeled Doc Martens was the best part, in our opinion.
Ricki And The Flash
The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter earned a 29-year-old Streep her first-ever Academy Award nomination – and it was the first time we saw her sing on screen: she belts out “God Bless America” during a tense dinner scene. This 1978 war drama received critical acclaim and centered on a trio of Russian-American steelworkers whose lives are forever changed after fighting in the Vietnam War.
The Deer Hunter
Music of the Heart
Okay, so Streep doesn’t sing in this one, but she does play the violin, which she refined over the course of a month by practicing for six hours every day. She progressed to the point that she was able to compete with orchestral veterans such as Joshua Bell and Isaac Stern.
Music Of The Heart
Ironweed
In this Great Depression-era film, Streep, who played Helen Archer, a washed-up radio singer, sang “She’s Me Pal” on stage in a half-imagined scenario inside a bar. At the Kennedy Center Honors in 2011, Streep’s Devil Wears Prada co-star Anne Hathaway sang a performance of the song “She’s Me Pal” in her honor.
Ironweed
Postcards from the Edge
This picture, which featured one of Meryl’s greatest ever on-screen performances, has already been mentioned briefly. She portrayed the daughter of a Hollywood celebrity who overdoses and enters treatment in the film Postcards from the Edge, Streep sang the original song “I’m Checking Out” as well as Ray Charles’ “You Don’t Know Me” with the band Blue Rodeo. She was supposed to perform “I’m Checking Out” at the Oscars, but she couldn’t since she was pregnant. Reba McEntire, on the other hand, took her position on the Academy Awards stage.
Postcards From The Edge