Helen Mirren Debunks Devil Wears Prada Casting Rumors

Helen Mirren addresses the rumors that she was up for Meryl Streep’s role in The Devil Wears Prada. The film, which was adapted by director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna from the novel of the same name by Lauren Weisberger, is loosely based on Vogue editor Anna Wintour. The film came to theaters on June 30, 2006, and became the 14th highest-earning film in the domestic box office that year, a substantial feat for a mid-budget adult comedy.

The film follows a young woman named Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) who dreams of being a journalist but settles on a job as an assistant to the editor of high-end fashion magazine Runway. Her boss is Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), a dictatorial woman who delights in tormenting her staff and is constantly delivering withering barbs. The role is one of Meryl Streep’s most iconic performances of the 21st century and earned her her 14th Oscar nomination, though she lost that year to Helen Mirren in The Queen.

While speaking with THR, Mirren discussed the rumors that she was originally up for two roles that went to Streep: the lead in 1981’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. She was eager to disabuse anyone of the notion, saying “No, no, no, never.” While she didn’t discount the possibility that her name may have been on a list in some casting office during the process, she didn’t know about it. However, she admits that “the only thing Meryl did tell me was she based her hairdo in The Devil Wears Prada on my hair.” Read her full quote below:

No, no, no, never. I didn’t have a chance with those. Maybe someone mentioned my name at one point — but without me knowing it. The only thing Meryl did tell me was she based her hairdo in The Devil Wears Prada on my hair. That’s all I can claim.

The Devil Wears Prada certainly would have been an excellent showcase for Mirren’s steelier side. The versatile actress is able to effortlessly switch between genres, but she has had the opportunity to play similar characters in films both before and after Prada. However, for fans of the film, it is difficult to imagine anyone but Streep as Miranda Priestly considering the fact that Streep’s performance became instantly iconic and is still referenced to this day.

Mirren obviously didn’t consider herself to even be in the conversation for The Devil Wears Prada. However, considering the way that year’s Oscars shook out between Mirren and Streep, even if she had been disappointed by getting the role of Miranda Priestly, she had the consolation that she probably made the right choice for her career. Winning that Oscar has opened up her career in ways that may not have happened otherwise, allowing her to have fun in action films like F9 and RED, opportunities which she has recently expressed delight in.

Source: THR

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