For 20 years, the assumption has been that Meryl Streep modeled Miranda Priestly on Vogue's Anna Wintour. Streep has been trying to correct that for years, and she so with some finality this week on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
'I was basically imitating Mike Nichols that whole time,' she said.
Nichols, the director behind The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Silkwood, had a quality on set that Streep said she found impossible to ignore. He carried absolute authority. His manner was quiet, precise, and laced with a dry humor that was both cutting and funny. He knew what he was saying was a little snide, and he knew it was a little amusing, and that combination was the whole thing.
'People take it as mean,' Streep said. 'But it's funny.'
The second ingredient was Clint Eastwood, who directed Streep in The Bridges of Madison County in 1995. Where other directors fill a set with noise and direction, Eastwood did the opposite. He never raised his voice. He often shot the rehearsal and moved on, keeping his crew in a permanent state of readiness. Nobody really got comfortable as they waited intently to hear what was next. Put those two together and you have Miranda Priestly.
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Streep told Nichols she had used him. 'He was thrilled," she said.
What makes the reveal so interesting now is where the original film stands two decades on. The Devil Wears Prada was sometimes dismissed in 2006 as a 'chick flick', a designation that impacted its budget, marketing, and studio positioning. The film went on to gross over $326 million worldwide. But since then, it's stayed in the cultural conversation. Quotes, scenes, (and the cerulean speech) still circulate on social media. An entire generation grew up on it and brought the next one along. Streep herself noted there is no moment anymore where she doesn't feel the urge to ask why no one is ready. The label, she said, has not worn well, pointing to Barbieand Mamma Miaas further proof of what Hollywood keeps getting wrong about films with women at the center.
The sequel arrives May 1 with the full cast intact: Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci. The story picks up 20 years later, with Andy returning to Runway under circumstances Miranda did not approve. In a clip shown on Colbert, Miranda learns Andy has been brought back and responds by firing someone else entirely.
Hilariously, Streep arrived for the interview wearing cerulean blue, Hathaway's outfit from the first film, and the studio audience recognized it the moment she walked out.
The sequel did not face the same budget fight as the original. 'This one, honey, they spent the money,' Streep said.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 opens May 1, 2026 from 20th Century Studios.
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