Here’s a Hollywood “what-if” that’s almost impossible to picture now: Rachel McAdams nearly played Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada. Not once, not twice, she actually turned down the lead role three different times.It’s hard to believe, because Anne Hathaway just feels so right as Andy, the young journalist thrown into the chaos of high fashion. But director David Frankel just confirmed it: before Anne, the studio was dead set on Rachel.
Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs went to Rachel McAdams: What happened?
Back then, McAdams was everywhere. She had just broken out with ‘The Notebook’ and ‘Mean Girls’. The studio wanted a sure thing for their 2006 film, and Rachel was their first pick. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director David Frankel shared that they kept coming back to her, offering again and again, hoping she’d change her mind. She didn’t.“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,” he recalled. “The studio was determined to have her, and she was determined not to do it.”After her success with ‘The Notebook’ and ‘Mean Girls’, McAdams reportedly wanted to step away from big studio movies and focus on smaller, more personal work.So the casting hunt kept going. Names like scarlett johansson, Natalie Portman, Kate Hudsonand Kirsten Dunst floated around. But Anne Hathaway just wouldn’t give up. She wanted this role and fought for it. The studio wasn’t convinced at first, as they wanted someone with a bigger box office pull. But Anne kept pushing. “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 told EW. She met with execs, made her case, even wrote “hire me” in the zen garden of Fox 2000’s then-vice president. She was relentless.Then Meryl Streep stepped in. She was nearly passed over herself for the part of Miranda Priestly, but once she was onboard, she wanted to meet Anne. Per Frankel, “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.‘”When the offer finally came, Anne was over the moon. “I patiently waited until it was my turn, and I got the call. It was the easiest yes in the world,” she said. “I remember the moment I found out I got the part, I just ran screaming through my apartment. 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!’”
‘The Devil Wears Prada’: All about the cult classic and its upcoming sequel
‘The Devil Wears Prada’ left a mark because it wasn’t just about clothes or the glossy world of fashion; it was Andy Sachs’ wild ride from clueless assistant to someone who found her backbone. Anne Hathaway nailed the role as Andy, a fresh-out-of-school journalist who couldn’t care less about fashion but landed a job as Miranda Priestly’s assistant. Miranda, played by Meryl Streep, is the queen bee of Runway magazine: icy, demanding, and basically terrifying.Andy starts out drowning in the chaos, makes a huge transformation (inside and out), and ends up wrestling with some big questions: Does she want success if it costs her personal values? Can she chase ambition without losing herself? Is power worth it if she no longer likes who she’s becoming?Miranda pushes Andy hard, and even though Andy climbs the ranks, she recognizes when she’s hit her limit. In the end, she walks away, choosing her own path over climbing further.Looking back, Streep said she tried method acting for Miranda and absolutely hated it. During the EW interview, she said, “It was horrible! I was (miserable) in my trailer. I could hear them all rocking and laughing. I was so depressed! I said, ‘Well, it’s the price you pay for being boss!’ That’s the last time I ever attempted a Method thing!”Hathaway admitted she felt intimidated working with Streep, but it was never cold. “I always felt cared for,” Hathaway said. She remembered how Streep would tweak her performance to help Hathaway break through emotionally, especially in that brutal scene: “You’re just as disappointing as the rest of those silly girls.” Even with all the pressure, Hathaway got the support she needed.Now they’re bringing the magic back with ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’. The original cast (Hathaway, Streep, Blunt, and Tucci) are all back, and the creative team hasn’t changed either.This time, we jump forward. Andy returns to Runway, but now everything’s digital. Miranda’s fighting to keep the magazine relevant. Emily, no longer the overworked assistant, is now a big deal in the luxury fashion world. The sequel doesn’t just revisit old drama; it’s updating everything: print is dying, digital rules, and power’s shifting fast in fashion and journalism.The trailer dropped and it blew up online. We get glimpses of runway spectacles, branding everywhere, and scenes all over the globe. But there’s more beneath the surface: bigger stakes, bigger drama. There’s a battle to save Runway magazine, Miranda facing off with younger leaders, Andy walking back in with way more confidence, and Emily now a player, not an assistant.Directed by David Frankel and written by Aline Brosh McKenna, just like the first one, ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ releases in theaters on May 1, 2026.
