The word “iconic” gets thrown around a lot today, but the 2006 film, The Devil Wears Prada, is undoubtedly iconic. From its sparkling ensemble cast to its exceedingly quotable script, the movie is probably one of the most indelible films of the 2000s.
So, when it was announced that a musical adaptation would be opening on the West End at the end of last year, we knew we had to find out more.
The Devil Wears Prada is now playing at Dominion Theatre, but began life as early as 2017. After a brief run in Chicago in 2022, the musical went back into development and emerged as a West End show with Ugly Betty star Vanessa Williams at the helm.
Playing a character like Miranda Priestly – originally portrayed by Meryl Streep in the movie – is a huge undertaking, but Vanessa is no stranger to lighting up the stage, screen and studio.
After becoming the first Black woman to win the Miss America title, Vanessa embarked on a successful singing career, later appearing in TV shows such as Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives, and even earning a Tony award nomination for her performance in the 2002 Broadway revival of Into the Woods.
Her co-star, Georgie Buckland, who plays Anne Hathaway’s character Andy Sachs in the show, makes her West End debut with the role, after touring with the likes of Shrek the Musical and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
HuffPost UK recently sat down with Vanessa and Georgie for our interview series, Question & Art. Here are nine things they revealed to us about putting together the musical, and what it’s been like to star in the West End hit so far...
First of all, Vanessa doesn’t stand for comparisons to her movie counterpart, Meryl Streep
“I refused to be compared”, Vanessa told us when asked whether it was intimidating to take on the character of Miranda Priestly, which was made popular by Meryl.
“I’ve heard this question over and over again, and I knew that I was going to make it my own… that’s been the feedback from everyone who’s seen it. After they sit down in their seat, they say ‘I completely forgot who was playing it before and I love the journey that you took me on’. And that’s what you have to do as an actor.”
Georgie had a crush on the movie’s lead Anne Hathaway growing up
When asked whether she found it intimidating to fill Anne’s (designer) shoes, Georgie shared that for her, there was a certain pressure to live up to expectations. “This is kind of my first big anything, so I felt a lot of pressure”.
But has Anne been in touch to congratulate her yet?
“No one’s reached out; I was hoping Anne Hathaway would because when I was a kid, and still now, she was like the one for me that I was obsessed with… I think I had a crush on her a little bit.”
She continued, “I still really want to meet her, so who knows, here’s to hoping. But I’d be nervous if she came to see it... I’d be shitting my pants!”
Vanessa’s hardest scene is the “cerulean” monologue, during which the audience used to throw her off by saying the words along with her
“I have a lot of speeches”, Vanessa admitted when questioned over which scenes carry the most pressure to get right. “Probably my most pressured scene is the cerulean scene”.
The scene in question, which is particularly popular online with social media users and creators, sees Miranda chastising her newly hired assistant Andy for not appreciating the commercial value and artistry of the fashion industry.
“A lot of people actually know the actual monologue”, Vanessa added, “so I can hear people whisper when I’m doing it. I usually do a pause before I say ‘cerulean’, and I can hear the ‘cerulean’ in the audience. It doesn’t distract me anymore, it was a little bit annoying at the start.”
Vanessa thinks of her Ugly Betty character, Wilhelmina Slater, as very different to Miranda Priestly
When asked about the obvious similarities between Miranda and Wilhelmina – the Creative Director and later Editor-in-Chief of Mode Magazine in the ABC series Ugly Betty – Vanessa said she thinks of Wilhelmina as more of a rounded character.
“I created that role”, she shared; “Wilhelmina really kind of developed the first season [of Ugly Betty] from being very much like a Miranda Priestly archetype to what I created, which is lovely… the further that got along, the more they wrote for the humour and the sassiness and the sexiness.
“There’s not as much freedom that Miranda has on stage just because she’s got to drive the reality and the seriousness and play the devil, so… I don’t want to say I don’t have as much fun as I did as Wilhelmina, but Wilhelmina was like, every episode when we would sit down for our table read, it was like, what is she gonna do now? And that was the thrill of it all.”
Georgie bonded with The Devil Wears Prada co-creator Sir Elton John by telling him she wasn’t wearing underwear the first time they met
When asked about working with Elton John, Georgie gushed over the British hitmaker, describing his music as “genius”. “I loved Elton John as a person and as a performer way before this project… getting to sing his music is such a privilege… Every time I meet him, I just think, ‘I can’t believe this is Elton John’.”
But how did they first meet?
“I remember one of the first things I said to him was, I went to his film premiere at the BFI, and I was wearing a really short skirt and he went, ‘gosh, that skirt is short’. And I went, ‘and I’m not wearing any knickers’, and he loved it… I just thought, ‘yeah, that’s my guy’”, she recalled.
A lot of celebrities have been to see the show so far, including Nick Jonas, Donatella Versace, Lily Collins and Anna Wintour
“We’ve had many: we had Jonathan Ross in last night… and Beverley Knight, she’s been like four times”, Georgie informed us when asked about celebs who have been along to see the show.
“We had Nick Jonas right at the start, that was so random… Donatella, obviously, loads of people came to see it on the 1st December. Lily Collins, Graham Norton, Betsey Johnson, Michael Kors… We have two jokes about Donatella and she’s sat there, that was cool.”
Vanessa also revealed that it was Elton John who encouraged Vogue Editor-in-Chief (and the supposed inspiration for the film and the 2003 book that inspired the film) Anna Wintour to attend: “I know that Elton gave a lovely letter to Anna Wintour and that’s why she showed up.”
Vanessa and Georgie are also hoping Stanley Tucci comes to see the show after running into him at a film festival
“We ran into Stanley at the premiere of Elton John’s documentary [at London Film Festival]”, Vanessa revealed of the Conclave actor, who played Nigel in the 2006 movie.
“That was great to touch base [with] Stan Tucci, and the show hadn’t opened at the time, so we’re hoping that he comes.”
Vanessa thinks Hannah Waddingham would be a perfect Miranda Priestly to take over from her when her time comes to leave
Asked to name who she’d like to succeed her as Miranda Priestly, Vanessa said that Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham “would be visually stunning”.
“It would have to be someone with gravitas, obviously, who’s elegant as well… the elegance is one of those things that, you can be scary, but in order to be in this fashion world and continue what’s been established from the movie… there’s that component that is necessary.
Hannah Waddingham could step into this in a second.”
When Vanessa does finally depart from The Devil Wears Prada, she would love for the next thing she does to be The White Lotus
When asked about her comfort film, Vanessa revealed she’s a big fan of the 2003 film School of Rock, directed by Richard Linklater and starring Jack Black.
“Every time it comes on, I have to watch the whole thing… and Mike White, who wrote that, wrote all of The White Lotus… He’s really talented.”
Making a direct plea to the camera, the Desperate Housewives star said “Mike White, if you’re out there, and if you have anything that you’d love me to be in, I would work for you in a heartbeat.”
The Devil Wears Prada is now playing at Dominion Theatre until 3rd January 2026.