Meryl Streep has reflected on the popularity of The Devil Wears Prada with the LGBT+ community as the release date nears for the hit fashion comedy’s upcoming sequel. The Oscar-winning actor played fashion editor Miranda Priestly in the 2006 original and reprises her role in the new film, due in cinemas on May 1.
Speaking to Out magazine about queer audiences who have embraced the films, Streep said: “It makes me so happy! Would we have fashion without gay people? Forgive me, would we have anything? I wouldn’t know how to put together anything. It’s a joy to have made it with [the LGBTQ+] community in mind. Top of mind.” She added that the new film has been well received globally, with reactions consistent across Mexico City, Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai.
Along with Streep, the film sees the return of Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci. Streep remarked: “I feel so lucky to be able to come back to something we did 20 years ago. Who gets to do that? We've had a whole lifetime. Look at Stanley Tucci! He's blossomed! [Emily Blunt] blossomed at birth.”
The original film, an adaptation of Lauren Weisberger’s 2003 novel, followed Hathaway’s Andy Sachs as an aspiring journalist hired at a major New York fashion magazine. It made over $326m at the international box office and earned Streep a Screen Actors Guild nomination for best actress.
Streep’s character is widely understood to have been inspired by Vogue editor Anna Wintour. A genealogy report confirmed they are sixth cousins, sharing fifth great-grandparents from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Wintour, who was born and raised in London, said of the film: “I found it highly enjoyable and very funny. It had a lot of humour to it, it had a lot of wit.”
