Emily Blunt recently opened up about feeling intimidated while working with Meryl Streep during the filming of The Devil Wears Prada. The revelation came during a special reunion of the film's cast, which brought together key members of the beloved movie.
Cast Reunion Brings Back Iconic Memories
According to PEOPLE magazine, the discussion took place during a SiriusXM Front Row session hosted by Andy Cohen. Along with Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Stanley Tucci were also part of the interaction.
Emily Blunt Admits She Was Nervous
During the conversation, Andy Cohen asked if Meryl Streep had been intimidating on set. Emily Blunt responded honestly, admitting that she felt nervous while working with the Oscar-winning actor during the first film.
"I mean, on the first one, I was quite scared because I feel like you were in a zone," Emily Blunt said to Meryl Streep, as per PEOPLE. The Julie and Julia actor acknowledged the remark and agreed with Emily's observation: "Oh, yeah. I was in that zone."
The 'Miranda Zone'
The Sicario actress then joked about how deeply Meryl Streep stayed in character, referring to it as the "Miranda zone." Emily Blunt further explained that Meryl Streep maintained a composed and serious presence on set. While she was approachable, she rarely broke character during filming.
"Not impenetrable, but we could come up and tell you a funny story, but you wouldn't do your extraordinary laugh that I normally heard," The Fall Guy actor shared.
Meryl Streep Explains Her Approach
When asked if maintaining that level of focus was difficult, Streep responded briefly: "No." She then opened up on how she built the commanding persona of Miranda Priestly, giving insight into her acting process and how she created authority on screen.
"The first three days I went and hung around the camera with the director, you know, and then we'd go on to do the scene and I'd go, you know, this and they'd go... it was just like a remove. A slight remove. The authority, the thing," Streep said.
Meryl Streep also revealed that maintaining some distance from her co-stars helped her performance. It allowed her to fully embody the authoritative nature of her character. This method contributed to the authenticity of her portrayal.
"She was saying the same thing. You know, they kind of don't want you at the cast party, right? It's like you have to have just a little bit of a barrier to feel like the boss and to make it, I don't know what it was, but it worked. When I went back and was miserable in my trailer and heard them all in the makeup trailer and they're all, I could hear from far away, they're all having a great time, you know," Streep said.
Meanwhile, the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada is set to release on May 1. The story will once again follow Miranda Priestly and explore the changing world of magazine publishing. Emily Blunt's character will return in a powerful new role.
