Being an actor is a weird profession and some actors go to extreme lengths to pull off their roles. We’ve heard of the ups and downs of method acting – from Daniel Day-Lewis spending years developing a character, Rooney Mara’s total make-over just to audition for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and of course, all of Jared Leto’s antics (for Morbius of all things.) But most actors simply follow Sir Laurence Olivier’s advice and just “try acting,” which doesn’t mean their performances come from any less of a real place. Even if they haven’t lived the exact experiences, the best actors will find ways to tap in to the emotional reality they intend to put on screen. This also extends to the physical nature of the character. The physicality choices are just as huge a component to making a character stand out as their innerlife, and no one understands that better than Meryl Streep. Perhaps the most respected actress of the past 40 years, Streep certainly knows how to make an iconic character, with one of her most iconic being Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. But how Meryl became Miranda took some surprising twists and turns.
Meryl Streep Used Real Life Icons for Inspiration
The major source of inspiration for Miranda Priestly has been speculated to be Anna Wintour, the famed editor of Vogue magazine. This is in part due to the book the movie was based off being heavily inspired by the life and experiences of its author, Lauren Weisberger. Before penning the novel, Weisberger had worked as an executive assistant to Wintour herself. That said, Weisberger and Streep have tried to avoid the outright comparisons to Wintour, with Streep telling Entertainment Weekly, “I wasn’t interested in doing a biopic on Anna; I was interested in her position in her company.” So if not Wintour where did Miranda Priestly come from?
While Peter Howell, writing for the Toronto Star, suggested Cruella De Vil, Martha Stewart, and Faye Dunaway’s performance as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest as comparisons, Streep has never mentioned any of these herself. In a piece for Variety written by Ramin Satoodeh to celebrate the movie’s tenth anniversary, Streep spoke about her inspirations for aspects of the character. She claims the walk as entirely her own and that the look of the character was one part Christine Lagarde, a French politician with “unassailable elegance and authority,” and Carmen Dell’Orefice, a famed model into her twilight years whose hair can clearly be reflected in Priestly’s. But Streep says the performance was inspired more by men she had come across in her life. She cited famed director Mike Nichols, for his wit that could be so sly, cruel, and self-amused that all involved would laugh. Other men she was inspired by she has kept to herself except one major one: Clint Eastwood.
Clint Eastwood Inspired a Significant Element of Miranda Priestly
Streep told Variety that Priestly’s iconic quiet and cutting voice came directly from Clint Eastwood. She went on to say, “He never, ever, ever raises his voice and everyone has to lean in to listen, and he is automatically the most powerful person in the room.” Eastwood has an unmistakable growl of a voice, so much so that two of his lines made it on to the AFI 100 years, 100 Quotes list. But it is just that, a growl, he is often playing quiet and stoic characters that draw the audience in. It’s an astute observation from Streep to realize that this, more than a booming voice, really commands the power. This dynamic was immediately put into success the first day the cast of The Devil Wears Prada heard Meryl’s voice.
At the first table read, while Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt were still pinning down their characters, Meryl came in with a surprise. Hathaway recalled to Variety, “I think we all had an idea of what Miranda would sound like, it was a strident, bossy, barking voice.” But when they heard what Streep had prepared, the entire room reportedly gasped in awe. “It was so unexpected and brilliant,” Hathaway continued. Meryl did say Eastwood wasn’t funny though, which is why she looked to Nichols. Putting the two directors’ personas together made for an iconic character, but how did Meryl Streep know this about Eastwood? Probably because they made a movie together.
Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood Worked Together on a Romantic Drama
In 1995, a major bestseller was adapted for the big screen by an unlikely director. Eastwood, whose directing career was largely based around thrillers and Westerns, decided to direct and star in The Bridges of Madison County. The film centers around a four-day affair between an Italian war bride, Francesca (Streep), and a photographer for National Geographic, Robert Kincaid (Eastwood), in town to photograph the local bridges. The film was a huge hit and Streep received her tenth Oscar nomination. It was also an experience that remained with Streep for years later.
While Eastwood is a controversial figure now, at the time he was viewed differently. Much of the success of the movie was accredited to the on-screen chemistry between the two. Streep had high praise for her work with Eastwood, stating she felt grateful for being his first choice – Eastwood reportedly reached out to her directly after getting her number from Carrie Fisher – and appreciated both his hands off directing style and the sensitivity he brought to being the leading man.
Miranda Priestly Was Only for the Story
Meryl Streep created an iconic character for The Devil Wears Prada that has created a lasting legacy for the film. Rather than go method by treating everyone poorly, she simply pulled parts from the real world and infused them into the character. In her conversation with Entertainment Weekly, reflecting on what she took from Clint Eastwood, Streep compared it to what an acting teacher once said about playing a king. The teacher said it was less about how you play the part but rather “it’s how everybody else in the room acts when you enter it that makes you the king.” Streep realized “I could just speak and be slightly nastier than I normally am.”
However, she could not escape the character entirely, remaining slightly cool to her co-stars in between filming. She created a sense of isolation to maintain her authority and hated it. She told Entertainment Weekly she was miserable hearing the fun everyone else was having. Pointedly, she said, “That’s the last time I ever attempted a Method thing!” Who better to listen to about acting than Meryl Streep.