Meryl Streep initially rejected ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ before her fee was doubled
Meryl Streep has revealed she initially turned down The Devil Wears Prada over a pay dispute.
The highly anticipated sequel is set to arrive in cinemas globally on May 1st, with Streep returning to the iconic role of fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly.
In a recent interview with Today, Streep cast her mind back 20 years to the original 2006 movie, explaining how she managed to ensure she was fairly compensated for her performance.
The multiple Oscar-winner shared that she “knew it was going to be a hit” immediately after reading the script, which she described as “great”.
However, Streep didn’t let the producers know her true feelings towards the film, revealing, “They called me up, and they made an offer, and I said ‘No. I’m not going to do it.'”
Due to believing the movie would be a major hit, Streep then bargained for a better fee, recalling, “I wanted to see if I doubled my ask, and they went right away and said, ‘Sure.'”
She recalled, “I’m 56 years (old), it took me this long to understand that I could do that! I was sure of it. I was sure it would be a hit. And they needed me, I felt. And I wanted it, but if they didn’t want to do that, I was okay. Because I’m old, I’m 56, I was ready to retire.”
Streep, now 76, is back to play Priestly for the second time, reuniting with original cast members such as Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci.
The cast also includes Kenneth Branagh, Simone Ashley, Justin Theroux, Lucy Liu, Patrick Brammall, Caleb Hearon, Helen J. Shen, Pauline Chalamet, BJ Novak, Conrad Ricamora, Tracie Thoms, and Tibor Feldman.
Last month, Streep opened up about the choatic filming process for the movie due to the original film’s avid fanfare and everybody wanted to get a glimpse of the action, telling Harpar’s Bazaar, “Even though we were aware of the impact of the first film two decades ago, I think none of us were prepared for the ambush of both goodwill and avid attention that engulfed us.”
The Hollywood legend added, “We needed police barriers and crowd control. Buses of fans turned up, and paparazzi swarmed and in one case kept jumping in front of the camera and the shot and got in a kerfuffle with the crew!”
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