Skip to main contentSkip to footer
Rachel McAdams and Anne Hathaway© Getty Images

‘The Devil Wears Prada’ director reveals that Anne Hathaway’s role was offered to Rachel McAdams multiple times

Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Kate Hudson, and Kirsten Dunst were also candidates


Shirley Gomez
Senior Writer
JUNE 16, 2021 2:47 PM EDT

When you are a fan of such an iconic movie like The Devil Wears Prada, thinking about other actors to play the role somehow feels like it would not have been the same. Recently the cast of the fashion movie revealed that Anne Hathaway’s part was initially offered to Rachel McAdams multiple times.

Director David Frankel revealed to Entertainment Weekly that although Meryl Streep’s role as Miranda Priestly was a no-brainer, they had Rachel McAdams, Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Kate Hudson, and Kirsten Dunst on the list for a potential Andy Sachs.

 Rachel McAdams, Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Kate Hudson, and Kirsten Dunst© Getty Images
They had Rachel McAdams, Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Kate Hudson, and Kirsten Dunst on the list for a potential Andy Sachs.

“We started negotiating with Annie to make a deal, and that didn’t go well with the studio. We offered it to Rachel McAdams three times. The studio was determined to have her, and she was determined not to do it,” Frankel told EW.

However, Hathaway’s persistence and a stamp of approval from Streep helped her convince the producers to give her the part. “It spoke to me. It made me feel. It was about a subject that I take very seriously, but in such a wonderfully joyful and lighthearted way,” Hathaway said of her character.

Anne Hathaway on ‘The Devil Wears Prada’© The Devil Wears Prada
Anne Hathaway on ‘The Devil Wears Prada’

“Meryl was eager to make the movie, and she said, ‘let me meet with her.’ ’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,’” Frankel revealed.

“I patiently waited until it was my turn, and I got the call,” Anne said. “It was the easiest yes in the world. I remember the moment I found out I got the part; I just ran screaming through my apartment,” the actress recalls.

“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!’“ she told the publication.