Meryl Streep Was “Imitating” Two Directors For ‘Devil Wears Prada’ Character, Instead of Anna Wintour
The Oscar winner played Miranda Priestly in the 2006 hit film, and reprised her role in the upcoming sequel.
The actress — who first played cynical fashion editor Miranda Priestly in the 2006 film and later reprised her role for the upcoming sequel — made a recent appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where she revealed that she actually drew inspiration from Mike Nichols and Clint Eastwood for the role.
“I was basically imitating Mike Nichols that whole time,” Streep told the host. “If Mike Nichols and Clint Eastwood had a baby, it would be Miranda Priestly.”
This may surprise fans, as many have likened Priestly to Wintour since The Devil Wears Prada was based on Lauren Weisberger’s novel of the same name, which was inspired by her own experiences working as an assistant to Wintour.
The former editor in chief of Vogue now serves as chief content officer for Condé Nast and global editorial director of Vogue.
Streep explained that Nichols’ commanding directing style, mixed with sly humor, helped form her character’s tone.
As for Eastwood, Streep was influenced by the filmmaker’s calmness while also being authoritative. “Clint would never raise his voice,” she said. “He would direct and people had to lean forward to hear what he was saying. He’d often shoot the rehearsal and then move on. So his crew was like on the balls of their feet. No one was sitting down except me.”
The actress previously collaborated with Nichols on Silkwood, Heartburn and the HBO miniseries Angels in America. She worked with Eastwood on his movieThe Bridges of Madison County.
Though Streep doesn’t list Wintour as one of her inspirations for the role, the editor reflected on the long-running comparisons between her and Priestly.
However, the fashion icon said that once she watched the Oscar-nominated film, her reaction was quite different from what she was anticipating.
“First of all it was Meryl Streep, which is fantastic,” Wintour said. “And then I went to see the film, and I found it highly enjoyable. It was very funny. Miuccia [Prada] and I talk about it a lot, and I say to her, ‘Well it was really good for you.’”
The film “had a lot of humor to it, and a lot of wit. It had Meryl Streep. I mean, it was Emily Blunt, and they were all amazing. In the end, I thought it was a fair shot.”
