Meryl Streep Turned Down Devil Wears Prada Until Bosses ‘Doubled’ Their Offer

Meryl Streep has admitted that she came close to turning down one of her most iconic roles in The Devil Wears Prada.

Appearing on The Today Show to promote the sequel, Meryl recalled how as soon as she read the script for the original film, she knew immediately that it was “going to be a hit”, so seized an opportunity.

“I thought, it’s a great script. And they called me up and made an offer and I said, ‘No, I’m not gonna do it’,” Meryl recalled.

She continued: “I knew it was gonna be a hit, and I wanted to see if I doubled my ask, and they went right away and said, ‘Sure’.”

Meryl went on to share that it took her a long time to “understand that I could do that” and that “you can ask for what you want”.

“I was sure it would be a hit, and they needed me,” she added. “I wanted it, but if they didn’t want to do that, I was OK because I’m old. I was ready to retire.

“But that was a lesson. That was a great way to start, so I was in a good mood when we began.”

Alongside the returning faces from the original Devil Wears Prada film, Meryl is joined in the new follow-up by the likes of Bridgerton’s Simone Ashley, Justin Theroux, Lucy Liu and a wave of celebrity cameos.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 arrives in cinemas on Friday 1 May. Check out HuffPost UK’s review of the film here.

Correction: A previous version of this article erroneously stated that Meryl Streep initially turned down The Devil Wears Prada 2, rather than the first film. This has now been corrected.