On the first day of filming The Devil Wears Prada, Anne Hathaway was not simply stepping onto a movie set. She was stepping into the orbit of Meryl Streep, one of the most revered actors in cinema history, and preparing to play opposite a character designed to intimidate everyone in the room. Hathaway, then only 23 years old, had already built a successful career, but the role of Andy Sachs placed her directly across from Miranda Priestly, the icy fashion editor whose quiet cruelty would become one of Streep’s most iconic performances.
According to the story that has since become part of Hollywood legend, Streep greeted Hathaway warmly at the beginning of production. She embraced her young co-star and offered a few kind words of encouragement. Then came the sentence that reportedly changed the emotional temperature of the entire shoot: “That is the last nice thing I will say.”
It sounded almost playful, but it carried a serious artistic purpose. Streep was not being cruel for the sake of ego or status. She was building Miranda Priestly from the inside out, creating an atmosphere in which Hathaway could genuinely feel the pressure, unease, and emotional uncertainty that her character experienced on screen. Andy Sachs spends much of the film trying to survive under Miranda’s impossible standards, and Hathaway’s performance needed to reflect more than scripted fear. It needed to carry the nervous energy of someone desperate to impress a person who seemed impossible to reach.
For the rest of the shoot, Streep reportedly kept a deliberate distance from Hathaway. She did not behave like a warm mentor between takes. Instead, she preserved the emotional chill that defined Miranda Priestly, allowing that tension to quietly shape the performances around her. The result was not just acting; it was atmosphere. Every pause, every glance, and every devastatingly calm line delivery helped make Miranda feel like a person whose approval could make or destroy someone’s entire sense of self.
Hathaway later admitted that the experience was difficult, but it also helped create the dynamic that made the film so memorable. Her Andy feels authentically overwhelmed because the world around her seems genuinely unforgiving. Streep’s restraint, distance, and discipline gave the movie a psychological sharpness that a more relaxed behind-the-scenes relationship might not have produced.
Released in 2006, The Devil Wears Prada became a major cultural and commercial success, earning more than $326 million worldwide and turning Miranda Priestly into a symbol of controlled power. The film’s brilliance lies not only in its fashion, humor, or quotable dialogue, but in the emotional tension at its center.
That nine-word welcome remains unforgettable because it reveals the precision behind Streep’s craft. She did not merely play Miranda Priestly. She created the conditions for everyone around her to believe in Miranda’s power. And in doing so, she helped transform a workplace comedy-drama into one of modern cinema’s most enduring portraits of ambition, fear, and authority.