Of all the films that have come out over the past 25 years, there’s no doubt that many would put The Devil Wears Prada on the list of the best 2000s movies. The comedy is memorable for its fashion, legendary quotable lines and performances, to the point where a sequel for the book to screen adaptation is currently filming and scheduled to hit the list of 2026 movies. Meryl Streep’s role as the titular devil is the one that’s recognizably based on a real person: Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour. Now, she’s opened up about her feelings on the movie.
What Did Anna Wintour Think Of Meryl Streep’s Performance In The Devil Wears Prada?
Becoming a celebrity is already a longshot, but becoming one who’s famous for so long that someone kinda sorta writes a book with you as a character, which eventually becomes a hit film, is even rarer. While Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt (who also return in the sequel) certainly did their part to make The Devil Wears Prada hit, it’s possible that the movie wouldn’t have been as beloved as it is without Meryl Streep’s portrayal of Miranda Priestly, who’s widely known to be based on long-time Vogue editor/Rihanna and A$AP Rocky-lover Anna Wintour.
The fashionable magazine maven (who oversees the uber-expensive Met Gala every year) was recently interviewed by The New Yorker Radio Hour, and after being asked if she was “hurt by” the movie’s version of her and seeming to “embrace” it later, Wintour said:
Well, I went to the premiere wearing Prada, completely having no idea what the film was going to be about. And I think that the fashion industry [was] very sweetly concerned for me about the film that it was gonna paint me in some kind of difficult light.
Alright, so not only can most of us not imagine having a book and then a movie made where there’s a character who’s openly based on us, but then think about going to the premiere of that film and having no clue what you’re walking into. Now, considering that the novel that one of the most fashionable movies was based on came out three years prior to the 2006 megahit and was a New York Times bestseller, I feel like Kim Kardashian’s famed high fashion friend may have had some inkling that she was at least vaguely being represented on screen.
And, you know, that representation wasn’t exactly…um, the best. I suppose one could say that Miranda is seen as exacting and salty when it comes to most of her employees (Hathaway’s Andy, in particular) and their work/fashion choices. That description, however, is the nicest way to put much of her behavior, which does mean that Wintour was shown in a “difficult light.” She continued, though, and noted that she gets the portrayal was (as the host said) “cartoonish,” adding:
Yes, a caricature, yeah. But, first of all, it was Meryl Streep, which — fantastic. And then I went to see the film, and I found it highly enjoyable and very funny.
Talk about being able to distance yourself from something, right? I mean, good for her! It turns out that she was able to take the story as just that, a story, and enjoy how it unfolded. Wintour concluded:
I think, listen, it had a lot of humor to it. It had a lot of wit. It had Meryl Streep. It was Emily Blunt. I mean, they were all amazing. And I, in the end, thought it was a fair shot.
It also sounds like she was able to recognize that, where things did ring true for her, the portrayal was about as “fair” as it could be, which speaks volumes for her ability to take things in stride. That's a trait that probably helped her make it to the top of her career.
