Highlights
- Anna Wintour was reportedly the inspiration for the Meryl Streep character in The Devil Wears Prada, which starred Anne Hathaway.
- Hathaway faced mixed reactions for refusing to answer a journalist's question about her private conversation with Wintour.
- No one knows the extent of Hathaway and Wintour's interactions, but Wintour once commented on The Devil Wears Prada book's success.
Even though she has starred in movie after movie, Anne Hathaway's performance in the 2006 comedy The Devil Wears Prada is one of her most popular. The actress was endearing as Andy Sachs, a young and aspiring writer who gets a supposed dream internship at a fashion magazine. Of course, things don't work out as planned. Andy is torn between her old life and her fancy new one. The film is based on Lauren Weisberger's novel from 2003. Both tell a fictionalized story of the time that the author spent as Vogue editor Anna Wintour's assistant.
From time to time, the actress is asked about the film. Hathaway said she didn't love filming The Devil Wears Prada and she even expressed her thoughts about a fan theory. A little while ago, Anne Hathaway was asked about Anna Wintour, and her response is still being talked about today.
What Happened When Anne Hathaway Was Asked About Anna Wintour?
Lauren Weisberger appeared on The Today Show and explained that worked at Vogue for just under one year when she finished college. Since she has shared that her novel is a fictionalized version of her experience, people think that Meryl Streep's The Devil Wears Prada Miranda Priestley's character was based on Anna Wintour.
Miranda is incredibly tough and never takes no for an answer. She's definitely as intimidating as she is intelligent and amazing at her job. As soon as Andy begins working for Miranda, Andy realizes that this job will be anything but fun.
In October 2022, Anne Hathaway was on the red carpet of the Women in Hollywood event that was hosted by Elle Magazine. Hathaway spoke to a journalist about Anna Wintour.
According to Buzzfeed, Anne Hathaway mentioned that she and Anna Wintour discussed The Devil Wears Prada. That was an innocent enough start to the interview. It seems like the actress would have liked for the journalist to smile and move on. But, instead, things went south.
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The journalist replied, "I'm a fan and I need to know." They wanted Hathaway to explain everything that Wintour told her.
The actress clearly didn't want to explain more, and she didn't seem pleased that she was being put in this position. Hathaway said, "I know, but you weren't there."
Buzzfeed and several sources noted that people had mixed reactions to Anne Hathaway's attitude. Some people thought that she was right to stand up for herself and refuse to answer a question that seemed too nosy. Others thought that she could have been more polite.
Several Reddit users discussed the interview in the SubReddit PopCultureChat. One wrote that the actress was put in an impossible and tough situation: "If she would try to shut the question down, people would have an issue with it. If she tries to laugh it off and show that she isn’t going to discuss the details of a private conversation, people would also have an issue with that. She can’t win."
Another person wrote, "I don’t think it was rude. She said “no” in a way that was meant to be clear but nonserious." They continued, "also worth noting that she’s likely been asked about Anna’s reaction to Devil Wears Prada 5000 times and has also likely declined to share details every time. So it’s a different way to answer a question she’s been asked for almost 10 years."
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No one knows how often Anne Hathaway and Anna Wintour have spoken or if they have even spent any real time together. Page Six reported in September 2022 that they were seen in the same row at New York Fashion Week.
Since the actress was wearing a black leather outfit and had bangs, people felt that she was dressed the exact same way that Andy Sachs was in The Devil Wears Prada. This was really fun to see. Hathaway didn't talk about this event, though, and no one knows if she and Wintour talked during the show.
They might have just exchanged hellos and then focused on the fashion in front of them, which would make sense since New York Fashion Week is such a big deal.
Did Anna Wintour Ever Speak Publicly About Anne Hathaway Or The Devil Wears Prada?
Of course, everyone would definitely be interested in hearing what Anna Wintour and Anne Hathaway discussed. But it makes sense that Hathaway wouldn't feel that it was right for her to share too much.
Even though Wintour was first hired as the editor-in-chief of Vogue in 1988 and has been in the public space for decades, she has lived a pretty private life. This might be a reason why Hathaway didn't want to explain more.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Amy Odell, who is the author of the book "Anna: The Biography," shared what Wintour said about "The Devil Wears Prada" book.
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A passage from Odell's book reads, "On May 21, 2002, Women's Wear Daily reported that The Devil Wears Prada had sold to Doubleday for a reported $250,000. When Anna learned about the book, she said to [managing editor Laurie] Jones, 'I cannot remember who that girl is.'"
According to The Cut, Miuccia Prada and Anna Wintour are friends and they spent years getting together, but The Devil Wears Prada was never something that they talked about. The Cut reported that Wintour said, "For a while it seemed that that association was the only flattering thing about the enterprise, and Miuccia and I never discussed it. Finally, at one of our lunches, she leaned across the table and she said, 'Anna, that book, it’s good for both of us.' And the subject has never come up again."
In 2009, Anna Wintour was interviewed on The David Letterman Show and they talked about The Devil Wears Prada movie. She explained that people of different ages work at the magazine, but there are a lot of older characters working at Runway in the film. She said, "Vogue is not only run by senior citizens." When the studio audience laughed, she continued, "The director in his wisdom chose to focus on the more mature people working."
