Meryl Streep was a “wretched” method starring in “The Devil Wears Prada,” says Emily Blunt

Meryl Streep literally transformed into Miranda Priestley for ‘The Devil Wears Prada’.

Streep’s co-star Emily Blunt, whose quiet comedic performance in the film marked her breakout role, revealed that Streep was “unhappy” staying in character in the beloved 2006 film during a conversation with Brian Cox for Actors of Variety on actors. Streep played an Anna Wintour-inspired fashion magazine editor who constantly abuses her employees in his quest for perfection.

“She’s amazing and she was kind of terrifying in that movie,” Blunt said of Streep. “She said it was one of the first times she tried Method acting. But she made her so miserable, playing Miranda.

Oscar-winner Streep previously admitted it was “awful” to isolate herself from her co-stars on set while playing the role of Miranda.

“I was (miserable) in my trailer,” Streep recalled in 2021. “I could hear them all rocking and laughing. I was so depressed! I said, ‘Well, that’s the price you pay for being the boss!’ This is the last time I ever attempted a Method thing.

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Added Blunt at the time: “Meryl is so social and funny as hell, in some ways it wasn’t much fun for her to have to walk away. It wasn’t that she was unapproachable; you could go up to her and say, “Oh my God, the funniest thing just happened” and she would listen, but I don’t know if it was the funniest thing for her to be on set like that.

Hathaway noted that Streep never made her feel “intimidated” while performing Method, saying, “I knew that whatever she was doing to create that fear, I appreciated it[because]I also knew she was watching out for me.”

Director David Frankel told IndieWire during the film’s 10th anniversary in 2016 that Streep’s character was actually meant to be the “heroine” of the story, and not Hathaway’s Andy Sachs.

“I was a fan of Anna Wintour and Vogue magazine. For me, the approach to developing the film properly was to make Miranda Priestley the heroine, someone to be celebrated with sympathy rather than someone to be insulted,” said Frankel. “In my worldview, we should be thrilled to have people who are excellent at what they do, superior at their job. The fact that they aren’t always likeable is irrelevant.”