Meryl Streep Reached Fashion Icon Status With “The Devil Wears Prada”
Meryl Streep continued to wow audiences through the 2000s with award-winning roles in projects such as the TV mini-series “Angels in America.”
But it was her turn as fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada that once again solidified the actor’s iconic status.
Yet again, Streep had her naysayers when it came to casting. On the “Hollywood Gold” podcast, “Prada” producer Wendy Finerman said that some people didn’t think Streep was funny enough for the part.
Streep scored the part of the icy editor of the fictional Runway magazine. Her perfectly coiffed white hair, steely stare, and cool yet cutting leadership style had people instantly comparing Streep’s character concoction to Anna Wintour, the long-standing editor of Vogue magazine.
But it turns out that Streep found inspiration not from Wintour but from an amalgamation of powerful men. She later said: “The voice I got from Clint Eastwood. He never, ever, ever raises his voice and everyone has to lean in to listen, and he is automatically the most powerful person in the room. But he is not funny. That I stole from [director] Mike Nichols.”
And she also looked to herself. “The walk, I’m afraid, is mine.”
The one item Meryl Streep kept from “The Devil Wears Prada” was Miranda’s sunglasses. Perhaps a nod to Wintour’s penchant for shades?
