Meryl Streep says the future of media is “uncertain.” That’s why she teamed up with Anne Hathaway for an “urgent” movie sequel to “The Devil Wears Prada.”
Anne Hathaway talks about the making of ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’
We caught up with Anne Hathaway at the world premiere of The Devil Wears Prada 2 to discuss how the highly anticipated sequel came to fruition.
NEW YORK – Think of “The Devil Wears Prada 2” as this generation’s “All the President’s Men.” Only this time Bernstein and Woodward are rocking Fendi and Hermès.
Packaged in glossy Valentino heels, the long-awaited sequel (in theaters May 1st) is actually a Trojan horse of a J-capitalist journalism movie. Set 20 years after the events of the hit 2006 drama, the new film follows prickly Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) and principled Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) as print media bravely make a last stand against the rapidly changing tides of AI and monetized digital content.
“It’s a fun fashion movie. There’s a lot of music and there’s a lot of laughter,” Streep, 76, says with a laugh, sitting in a downtown hotel chicly renovated as the offices of Miranda’s Runway magazine.
But the heart of the film, she added, is “written on the shifting sands of the reality of living right now.” “In every business, every outlet, every company, people are not sure where everything is going.”
For Hathaway, 43, it was important not to just cash in on the much-quoted original work. Streep’s seemingly nuanced portrayal of the formidable editor-in-chief earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
“We talked a lot about not wanting to come back and make a nostalgic movie to revisit these characters,” Hathaway says. “The legacy of the first film is still strong. We didn’t need to do this. We needed a great story, and we needed something that felt urgent and very human.”
‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ is a ‘love letter to journalists’
In the first “The Devil Wears Prada,” a naive and ordinary Andy takes a job at Runway Inc. as the new assistant to Miranda, an Anna Wintour-esque boss whose ice queen persona melts away as the film progresses. Andy quickly becomes involved in the high fashion business, but eventually decides to quit, fearing he will lose himself.
Directed by David Frankel, son of famed New York Times editor-in-chief Max Frankel, the sequel follows Andy, an award-winning reporter, as he returns to the runway after being abruptly fired by his girlfriend and many others at the newspaper. Now the magazine’s features editor, Andy struggles to produce “worthy” journalism as a revolving door of media executives demands more page views, more exclusives, more advertising dollars and more social content.
“This is a love letter to journalists,” Hathaway says. “There are so many aspects of our society that are under siege right now, but one of the things that scares us the most is how journalism is under siege and what’s happening to the truth. So it’s really important that we’re on the right side of history when it comes to this particular issue.”
Frankly, this film should serve as a warning to journalists who are seeing their jobs cut at an increasingly alarming pace as media companies strip them of their positions. Miranda’s right-hand man, Nigel (Stanley Tucci), laments that there is no budget left for sophisticated fashion photography and that runway shows have been reduced to boring videos that people watch in the bathroom. Andy is forced to write a sponsored brand article for his former colleague Emily (Emily Blunt), who has jumped ship to a magazine and ends up working at Dior.
And when a fellow CEO (BJ Novak) takes charge of Runway, the entire feature section faces challenges. (“We can’t just keep sucking the soul out of everything, emptying it and repackaging it,” Andy laments tearfully.)
“The future is coming for all of us, and maybe we’re just destined to be subsumed or swept away,” Frankel says, paraphrasing a Jeff Bezos-esque billionaire (Justin Theroux) who is new to the sequel. “I don’t remember a time in culture when it felt like things were changing so dramatically and when it was so mysterious. All of these characters live in a world of uncertainty. And that’s where we are now.”
However, there is a glimmer of hope. The sequel adds a number of young runway assistants, played by Simone Ashley (Bridgerton), Caleb Hearon (Pizza Movie), and Helen J. Shen (Maybe Happy Endings). Andy and Nigel initially looked down on their Gen Z colleagues as inexperienced. But Shen’s go-getter Jin teaches Andy that he can create healthy boundaries around his boss and the workplace, and that technology doesn’t have to be something to fear.
“Jin doesn’t get upset at all if you underestimate him,” Shen says. “The solutions she suggests may seem completely out of the ordinary to Andy, but sometimes you need to see things from a fresh perspective.”
Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep promote ‘The Devil Wears Prada 3’
Streep said that after the sequel’s global promotional tour, the filmmakers will auction off the costumes and donate the proceeds to nonprofit organizations that support freedom of the press.
“We thought, ‘This is a fashion movie,'” Streep says. “Let’s put on all these clothes and throw some money at the Committee to Protect Journalists. So that’s where we’re going! Boom!”
Prada 2 is a rare sequel from Oscar winners Streep and Hathaway, both of whom were very cautious about the franchises they signed on to. Aside from Miranda, Streep’s only previous movie character to reprise her role was as Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia! movie. Hathaway, on the other hand, has only filmed sequels to “The Princess Diaries” and “Alice in Wonderland.”
The first Prada ended with Andy, fed up with the cruel and treacherous world of designer fashion, getting out of Miranda’s limousine and throwing his work phone into a fountain.
“It’s unlimited,” Streep says. “You want to see where it goes. You want to see what she does with her life. I haven’t made many movies that don’t have a deadline. The movie is over when it’s over. They don’t feel like, ‘I can’t wait to see what Julia Child does next!'”
“But I want to! Can you please?” exclaimed Hathaway, her eyes lit up by the possibility of a “Julie & Julia” sequel.
Streep is still waiting for the third Mamma Mia! movie. Despite the surprising reveal that her character died between the first and second film. (“You think Donna is dead, but maybe she isn’t. I’m just saying!” Streep playfully teases.) The Hollywood icon could also consider teaming up with Hathaway in a movie musical someday.
“Maybe that’s the third one!” Hathaway jokes. “‘The Devil Wears Prada Sings!'”
