Rachel McAdams was supposed to play Andy.
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1. While she wore some Prada, Miranda Priestly’s outfits mostly consisted of pieces from designer Donna Karan.
2. Patricia Field, the movie’s costume designer, told Glamour that Miranda’s look was not based on Anna Wintour, but on the late Harper’s Bazaar editor Liz Tilberis.
3. Anne Hathaway traced “Hire Me” into the sand of a zen garden on Fox 2000 executive vice president Carla Hacken’s desk, hoping she would see it after their meeting.
4. Despite this, the studio wanted Rachel McAdams to play Andy, but she turned them down several times.
5. Meryl Streep said one of the things she admires most about her character, Miranda, is her assertiveness, especially because society has said it isn’t an attractive quality in women, but perfectly acceptable for men.
6. Meryl said the biggest challenge in acting as Miranda is playing her in a way where the audience can also find the humanity in her.
7. Stanley Tucci accepted his role as Nigel 72 hours before he started filming his part.
8. Tom Lennon, from Reno 911, was initially offered the role of Nigel.
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9. Meryl did not think it was fun playing the villain and, in fact, it gave her a bit of anxiety.
10. The first draft of the script that made it to screen took only about a month to write.
11. And the entire movie was shot in only 57 days between Paris and New York.
12. When Meryl signed onto the film, she said she wanted a scene that captured the business of fashion, which then resulted in the iconic cerulean sweater monologue.
13. Aline Brosh McKenna, who wrote the screenplay, said that very monologue almost didn’t make it into the film. The initial monologue was simply an attack on Andy’s fashion choices, but both the director and Meryl called for her to expand Meryl’s monologue in order to gain a deeper understanding of her character. It is more than a page long on paper, and every word made it into the final product.
14. Cerulean was also chosen because blue was the best color that would work on screen.
15. Meryl didn’t know a lot about the fashion world before making this movie.
16. It was Meryl’s decision to change Miranda’s last line from “Everybody wants to be me” to “Everybody wants to be us.”
17. It was also Meryl’s decision to dye her hair a striking white for Miranda’s character.
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18. The original script was a “mean revenge story” where Andy sought revenge against Miranda. That was quickly scrapped.
19. The team at Chanel gave the costume designer the freedom to borrow whatever clothes they needed for the film.
20. Due to budgeting issues, they couldn’t afford to fly Meryl to Paris for her scenes, so they used a green screen when filming her in the Mercedes. In wide shots that were set in Paris, they used a double.
21. Lauren Weisberger, the author of the novel, said there’s some truth within her writing. A few of the tasks her and her friends had to do for their jobs weren’t far off from what she’d written in the book.
22. The author also made a cameo in the film as the nanny to Miranda’s twins.
23. Meryl almost turned down her role because she wasn’t happy with the initial offer, so the studio doubled it. In the end, she was paid $4 million for the role.
24. Emily Blunt auditioned for her role by recording her bit in jeans and flip flops on her way to the airport.
25. She also read for her role in a British accent because she thought it would make her character seem superior to Anne’s character.
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26. When Anne and Meryl first met, Meryl told Anne, “I think you’re perfect for the role and I’m so happy that we’re going to be working together on this. But I warn you, that’s the last nice thing I’m going to say to you!”
27. Meryl told Variety that the way Miranda spoke was inspired by Clint Eastwood, because 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.”
28. Anne worked as an assistant in an art auction house for a few weeks to prepare for the role of Andy.
29. The film used over $1 million worth of clothing.
30. Meryl donated her entire Devil Wears Prada wardrobe to be auctioned off for charity.
31. But Meryl didn’t want to part with the vintage green coat she wore, so her boyfriend bought it for her.
32. Emily Blunt said she felt like she could have played her character as bitchier, but felt the audience needed to see “vulnerability through the sarcasm.”
33. Patricia Field, the costume designer, is also known for her work in Sex and the City.
34. The director and producers told Anne to gain 10 lbs. for the role, which she says she happily did. But when it came time to fit into couture, Patricia told Anne she had to lose the 10 lbs. she was told to gain.
35. Anne claims that this movie was the one that changed her life.
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