This is one of Meryl Streep’s cult roles and she was inspired by another cinema legend. You can find her in this famous film which has just arrived in the Netflix catalog.
The most nominated personality in the history of the Oscars with 21 nominations and 3 awards, Meryl Streep is undoubtedly the best actress of her generation. The 74-year-old American is capable of playing everything and shining in all registers.
However, in 2006, Meryl Streep landed an unexpected role, for which some people in the industry thought she did not have the right material or humor required, that of a villain as funny as she was cynical.
A surprising villain role for Meryl Streep
And for this character, which she had initially almost refused, the actress was inspired by another cinema legend: Clint Eastwood, with whom she had shared the poster in the cult film On the Road to Madison . She had explained to Variety that the actor’s ability to assert his authority, to impose respect and to draw attention to himself with calm and pugnacity, particularly in the film Dirty Harry, was a source of inspiration:
“He never raises his voice and everyone has to lean towards him to listen. His posture automatically makes him the most powerful person in the room.”
To fully slip into the skin of the character, Meryl Streep also used “the Method” or “method acting”, a acting technique which aims to be naturalistic and which consists of an actor embodying his character on a very set. outside of the shots and to emotionally immerse himself in his character.
Twentieth Century Fox France Meryl Street
A huge hug… before Hell
And to play Miranda Priestly, the editor-in-chief of Runway, in The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep pulled out all the stops and didn’t really play nice with her acting partners Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt until the end of filming, as explained by Andy’s interpreter in the Graham Norton Show :
“When I met her, she gave me a huge hug. And I was like, ‘Oh my God, we’re going to have a great time on this movie,’ and then she goes, ‘Ah, darling, This is the last time I’ll be nice to you.”
If you want to see this famous Meryl Streep performance again, you can watch it again on Netflix since The Devil Wears Prada has just joined the platform’s catalog!
As a reminder, The Devil Wears Prada is the adaptation of the eponymous novel by Lauren Weisberger directed by David Frankel. In this film rated 3.5 out of 5 by AlloCiné spectators, we follow the journey of Andrea/Andy (Anne Hathaway), a recent graduate, who arrives in New York to become a journalist.
Hoping to climb the ladder, she lands a job as assistant to Miranda Priestly, the tyrannical editor-in-chief of Runway, a prestigious fashion magazine, who could open every door for her. But she will quickly discover what the word “hell” means with this position “for which thousands of girls would kill”.
The Devil Wears Prada movie is available on Netflix.