Meryl Streep Was Almost Not Cast in ‘Devil Wears Prada’ Over Fears She’s ‘Not Funny’

Meryl Streep nearly lost her role in The Devil Wears Prada over fears she wasn’t funny enough.

The Hollywood veteran landed the part of fearsome fashion boss Miranda Priestly in the hit 2006 film opposite Anne Hathaway as her assistant but the movie’s producer Wendy Finerman has now admitted she faced some push back for casting Streep.

Speaking during an appearance on the Hollywood Gold podcast, Finerman explained: “Meryl, people thought we were crazy. I mean, I had people call me up and say, ‘Are you out of your mind? She’s never been funny a day in her life.’

“But this was clearly a different kind of world for her, and I think that that was part of the fun of the unexpected.”

Finerman went on to cite that although the actress was mostly known for her serious and dramatic roles, she had also played funny turns in movies such as She-Devil and Death Becomes Her.

READ MORE: Actors Who Returned to Iconic Roles Decades Later

Meryl previously admitted she was “so depressed” during filming because she adopted an acting style which meant she kept an icy relationship with her co-stars Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt, and afterwards she vowed never to go “Method” again.

She told Entertainment Weekly: “It was horrible! I was [miserable] in my trailer. I could hear them all rocking and laughing. I was so depressed! I said: ‘Well, it’s the price you pay for being boss!' That’s the last time I ever attempted a Method thing!”

Blunt concurred in an interview with The Independent newspaper, saying: "Do you know she’s never done Method acting since? She said it made her so miserable on this one, because we were all having a party on the other side of the set. And she was like: ‘I won’t do this again.’”

Get our free mobile app