The role won her the ‘Best Actress In a Musical Or Comedy’ award at the Golden Globes as well as many other nominations the film is her second most successful film of all time, beaten only by the iconic Mamma Mia! but somehow, Meryl Streep almost didn’t get cast in her role as Miranda Priestly in 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada.
That’s right, while it is hard to imagine ANYBODY else giving the iconic “that sweater is not just blue...” speech, Meryl Streep was at one point considered a good choice for playing the role of the fashion mogul.
Why Meryl Streep almost missed out on role as Miranda Priestly
On a recent episode of the Hollywood Gold podcast, producer Wendy Finerman revealed that actually, Meryl was almost passed over for the role because some people thought that she had “never been funny a day in her life.”
Finerman said people were calling her asking if she was ‘out of her mind’ for the casting decision but she pointed out that Meryl had in fact been funny in cult classic ‘Death Becomes Her’.
While the actress was, at this point, known for more serious roles such as Kramer Vs Kramer and Sophie’s Choice, the producer said that hiring her for this lighter role was, “part of the fun of the unexpected.”
While it may have been a gamble, it’s fair to say that it paid off.
Not only was The Devil Wears Prada one of the most successful films of 2006, Meryl went on to perform in the Mammia Mia films, Into The Woods, and It’s Complicated — proving that, as an actress, she had range all along.