Gird your loins! It has officially been two decades since The Devil Wears Prada first hit theaters.
On June 30, 2006, the world was introduced to Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly and Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs, and we’ve never quite been the same.
From the iconic cerulean monologue to the unconventional way Hathaway campaigned for the role of Andy to the highly anticipated sequel, we’re breaking down 25 behind-the-scenes facts about the movie to celebrate the milestone anniversary.
Keep scrolling for 25 Things You Don’t Know About The Devil Wears Prada, as seen in the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now:
1. Based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Lauren Weisberger, The Devil Wears Prada hit theaters on June 30, 2006.
2. Widely considered to be a roman à clef, the novel follows a young woman hired as a personal assistant to a high-ranking fashion magazine editor, seemingly mirroring Weisberger’s own experience working for Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
3. Though she was initially reluctant, Streep took the role of villain Miranda Priestly, thought to be modeled after Wintour.
4. Weisberger makes a cameo in the film as Miranda’s twins’ nanny.
5. Fox bought the rights to the novel before it was even finished being written.
6. Then-executive vice president of Fox, Carla Hacken, greenlit the big screen adaptation after reading the first 100 pages of the manuscript. “I thought Miranda Priestly was one of the greatest villains ever,” she has said.
7. Hathaway traced the words “hire me” in the sand of a zen garden while meeting with Hacken to campaign for the role of Andy Sachs.
8. Rachel McAdams turned down offers for the role of Andy multiple times before they ultimately went with Hathaway.
9. The Devil Wears Prada ultimately grossed $326 million worldwide against a $41 million budget.
10. Stanley Tucci accepted the role of Nigel just 72 hours before he began filming.
11. Streep has said she looked to Clint Eastwood and Mike Nichols for inspiration for her portrayal of Miranda.
12. Streep remained distant from her costars on set to maintain the tension between characters.
13. Six years after they filmed The Devil Wears Prada, Tucci married Emily Blunt’s sister Felicity, whom he met at his costar’s 2010 wedding to John Krasinski.
14. Several fashion houses reportedly opted out of participating in the film out of fear of upsetting Wintour.
15. Wintour turned up to the premiere of the film — wearing Prada. “Anything that makes fashion entertaining and glamorous and interesting is wonderful for our industry,” she said of the film. “So, I was 100 percent behind it.”
16. While the climax of the movie was shot in Paris, Streep never stepped foot in France to film. “We were not allowed to bring Meryl to Paris,” director David Frankel told IndieWire. “We used green screen of her.”
17. Streep’s performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
18. Costume designer Patricia Field also snagged an Oscar nom.
19. Though the costume budget was only $100,000, Field estimates they used at least $1 million worth of clothing thanks to her “friends in the fashion industry.”
20. Streep took home her character’s oversized Gucci sunglasses — and wore them while filming the “Money, Money, Money” musical number in 2008’s Mamma Mia!
21. Streep, Hathaway and Blunt’s reunion at the 2024 SAG Awards made it clear to Frankel that “there was still so much public affection for this trio, and for the movie,” motivating him to pursue a follow-up film.
22. Frankel and the original film’s writer, Aline Brosh McKenna, returned for sequel The Devil Wears Prada 2, which hit theaters on May 1, 2026.
23. While Weisberger wrote two follow-up novels, the movie sequel goes a completely different direction plot-wise, with McKenna explaining they wanted “a new world with new circumstances, dilemmas [and] an evolution of the relationships.”
24. At the end of the sequel, Andy can be seen wearing an updated vest version of the blue sweater that prompted Miranda’s iconic cerulean speech in the original movie.
25. Streep and Wintour graced the cover of Vogue’s May 2026 issue to promote The Devil Wears Prada 2. Both wearing Prada, of course.
