Almost exactly 20 years ago, fans stepped into the world of the cutthroat, prestigious and extravagant fashion industry through the perspective of a doe-eyed Andrea “Andy” Sachs in “The Devil Wears Prada.” And they were as enraptured as she was.
Andy, played by Anne Hathaway, was a recent college graduate who took a job as an assistant at Runway, a fictional fashion magazine, despite having “no style or sense of fashion,” as Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly tells her. During her time at Runway, she worked with fellow assistant Emily Charlton, Emily Blunt’s character, and Stanley Tucci’s Nigel Kipling, learning what it takes to survive in the industry. By the end of the film, Andy realized the career path wasn’t for her and walked away.
The movie became a international hit, earning over $325 million globally at the box office, and its stars, particularly Streep, were praised for their performances. She won a Golden Globe for her depiction as the ruthless editor-in-chief and also received an Academy Award nomination.
Fans have been clamoring for years to reunite with the characters, and on May 1 they will find out what Miranda, Andy, Emily and Nigel have been up to when “The Devil Wears Prada 2” hits theaters. Prior to the release, the stars joined Jenna Bush Hager for an exclusive sit-down interview that aired April 30 on TODAY, where Streep, Hathaway, Blunt and Tucci discussed why it took 20 years to deliver a sequel worthy of their iconic characters. An extended conversation with the cast can also be heard on the newest episode of “Open Book with Jenna.”
“I think people are hungry for it,” Tucci tells Jenna about the sequel. “Arguably, it has become a classic film. It endures, and people seem to have not been able to get enough of us. So here we are.”
Although it has been two decades, Blunt, who has a “lasting memory” of the first film given that she was a rising star in Hollywood at the time it released, says “it feels like a blink” since last playing Emily.
“This film certainly changed my life in a huge way. It was touching and moving and weird to be back together,” she says. “Obviously, a lot has happened in 20 years. We’ve had kids.” She then gestures to Tucci and adds, “He married my sister.”
That’s true indeed; Tucci and Blunt’s older sister, Felicity Blunt, wed in 2012.
“We are so related,” Blunt quips.
“We are over related,” Tucci jokes back.
As for Streep, she shares that during the current press tour, she and Hathaway have traveled to cities all over the world, speaking with fans who say they grew up with the original movie.
“Everybody has their origin story (of) when they saw it,” the three-time Oscar winner says. “It’s very gratifying, but it’s also kind of mystifying.”
Streep says she is amazed fans are affectionate to her given her character’s icy demeanor. But she understands the intrigue surrounding all the characters and how their lives changed after the credits rolled.
Meryl Streep once again steps back into Miranda Priestly’s designer stilettos. Marc J. Franklin for TODAY
That interest translated into pressure and the desire to make a sequel that lives up to expectations. Hathaway says that she knew they could capture magic again when she read the screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna, who also penned the 2006 flick.
“Aline McKenna cracked it, and she found a reason why we should make it beyond just nostalgia, beyond just giving people what they want,” Hathaway explains. “She found something new and more to say with these characters, and so I felt like that actually took a lot of the pressure off. Then it was just back to what we do every time.”
Emily Blunt says she adores her “unhinged” character. Marc J. Franklin for TODAY
At the center of the film is the state of journalism and how Andy and Miranda’s jobs are valued in 2026. Andy returns to Runway to help Miranda and Nigel navigate the changing media landscape.
When Jenna asks about the timeliness of the movie and why it addresses advancement in technology, Tucci replies frankly, “Because journalism has changed. Magazines have changed distinctly. Most of them only exist online. … AI and technology has changed, not just the physical thing, but journalism itself, which is how obviously the movie starts.”
Stanley Tucci talks about attending Milan Fashion Week with Meryl Streep as their characters from “The Devil Wears Prada,” revisits one of his famous quotable moments from the original film and shares what he hopes audiences will take away from its new sequel.
Chiming in, Streep adds that “so much is uncertain” right now and the filmmakers used that to examine how the characters have been “destabilized.”
“Everybody in their lives has had to surf the new reality and figure out how to survive, how to keep their scruples intact, how to keep their conscience awake and alive,” she says. “(All the characters do) it in a different way and there are lots of compromises people make, and yet together, it’s kind of triumphant in the end.”
Stanley Tucci acknowledges that the media landscape is not the same as it was 20 years ago — and the film will address that head on. Marc J. Franklin for TODAY
So, how have the characters’ lives changed? Well, for Nigel, fans will still see his passion for creativity and the magazine. But he is more pragmatic.
“He wants (Runway) to be a thing of substance. But he’s at this point — you can sort of see where things are headed, even though he’ll do everything he can to stop them,” Tucci says about his character’s arc. “He’s a little weary. … You pick your battles at the age of 65.”
When Jenna describes Nigel as “steady,” Tucci agrees.
“He’s the foundation,” he says.
As for Emily, she remains a delightfully “unhinged person,” Blunt shares, adding that she enjoys portraying a character “who is in a constant state of outrage.”
“I’m not sure that she’s softened with time,” she says. “There will be some sort of undoing that has to happen for all of them. But I adore playing her. I think that she’s a complete lunatic, clearly. But I find her sort of delicious and fun. I think it’s like now, she’s sort of even more insane because she has power.”
Anne Hathaway knew they had something special after reading the sequel’s script. Marc J. Franklin for TODAY
Years in the ever-changing journalism industry hasn’t turned Andy cynical. “The descriptor that (Brosh McKenna) had of Andy was, ‘20 years has not done anything to dim her heart or smarts,’” says Hathaway, who wanted to convey that optimism.
She recalls having a conversation with Brosh McKenna and director David Frankel about the “subtle ways” to reflect how Andy has grown.
“We couldn’t rely on her being quite so wide-eyed this time,” she says. “She’s not become cynical, which is one of my favorite things about her. She really sees the best in situations, the best in people.”
Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci and Simone Ashley’s “Devil Wears Prada 2” fashion would make Miranda Priestly proud.
Touching on Andy’s decision at the end of the original, to part ways with Runway, she says, “I think that she’s lived a life thus far that actually she’s really loved. I think she made a choice. She knew it was the right choice for her. It hasn’t been easy. It hasn’t delivered some of the material success that maybe other people her age have. But she’s had a blast being herself, and now she’s looking for something else. I think she’s looking for some stability.”
The sequel will see Andy questioning how much she has to grow up and compromise in her career.
And Miranda — well, this time Streep says she was able to spend more time with the cast on set. When she filmed the original, she says she used a “method” technique and kept her distance in between takes, to not fracture Miranda’s mystique and ability to command a room.
“And this one, I think we come in (and) Miranda is more discombobulated,” Streep says.
Jenna Bush Hager sat down with all four of the leads to discuss how their characters have grown over the last two decades. Marc J. Franklin for TODAY
Back 20 years ago, Streep says she knew “The Devil Wears Prada” was going to be a hit from the moment she read the script. She believed in it — and the part she was offered as Miranda — so much that she turned it into a moment to advocate for her worth.
“They called me up and they made an offer, and I said, no, not going to do it,” Streep recalls. “Because I wanted to see. … I knew it was going to be a hit, and I wanted to see if I doubled my ask — wow. And they went right away and said sure. I thought, I’m 50-60 — it took me this long to understand that I could do that.”
Her bet paid off — Miranda Priestly and the movie itself became as iconic as they come. And conversations about a follow-up film came as early as 2009, according to Streep.
“They started talking about a sequel, but we all waited until we had that good idea,” Streep recalls.
“I think we all had to do it as well, that you got to have all four of us come back,” Blunt says. “There were mutterings and rumblings for years.”
“Lots of ideas, yeah,” Streep says. “But it’s almost like the world had to shift in that way for Aline, who wrote the original, to get a new idea that made sense. These people had to confront what’s going on, in the world of journalism and publishing and politics, everything. … Everything has kind of flipped. And that’s cool, that that had a story embedded in it.”
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