The director of The Devil Wears Prada has revealed Rachel McAdams was originally offered Anne Hathaway’s role.
Anne played Andy Sachs in the cult-classic movie, which was released back in 2006.
Ahead of the film’s 15th anniversary, director David Frankel revealed Rachel McAdams turned down the iconic role three-times before it was offered to Anne.
He told Entertainment Weekly: “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.”
“The studio was determined to have her, and she was determined not to do it.”
Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Kate Hudson and Kirsten Dunst were also considered for the role, but Anne was determined to get it.
She told the publication: “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.”
It wasn’t until Meryl Streep, who played Miranda Priestly in the film, put in a good word for Anne that she was considered for the role.
David explained: “Meryl was eager to make the movie, and she said ‘let me meet with her.’Â 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.”
Recalling the moment she got the role, Anne said: “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!'”
Anne admitted she felt “intimidated” by Meryl on the set, but said she “always felt cared for” by the actress.
“I knew that whatever she was doing to create that fear, I appreciated [because] I also knew she was watching out for me. There’s this scene where [she says], ‘You’re just as disappointing as the rest of those silly girls.'”
“I remember when the camera turned on me, the pressure really got to me, and I’d had such emotional fluidity in the day up to that point but it just wasn’t there anymore.”
“I remember having the experience of watching [her] watch me, and [she] altered [her] performance ever so slightly, and just made it a little bit different, and brought more out of me and got me to break through whatever barrier I had.”
