‘The Devil Wears Prada’: Emily Blunt Nearly Bombed Her Audition
Emily Blunt won over The Devil Wears Prada director David Frankel through her audition for Emily. In the film, Blunt played Miranda Priestly’s (Meryl Streep) eager assistant forced to take Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) under her wing. The movie catapulted the actor’s career and landed her even more blockbuster success.
As many Devil Wears Prada fans continue to celebrate the film’s 15th anniversary, Blunt’s character stands out through her pithy quotes and scene-stealing looks. However, the actor shared that she nearly missed out on playing Emily.
Emily Blunt wore sweatpants to her first ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ audition
Before The Devil Wears Prada, Blunt was a British actor struggling to make her way into Hollywood. After appearing in several TV series in the early 2000s, including Empire and Foyle’s War, the actor auditioned for the 2006 film Eragon.
Although Blunt didn’t book the movie, her audition tape for The Devil Wears Prada caught the attention of the film’s director, David Frankel. In a 2016 interview with Variety, he shared that Blunt’s ended his search for the perfect Emily. However, Edge of Tomorrow star revealed to James Corden that the studio had one problem with her first audition.
“I was rushing for the airport, and I remember just being kind of flustered,” Blunt explained. “So I read it, but I was wearing sweatpants, and I did not look the part at all.”
“And he [Frankel] was like, ‘We need you to do it again, but can you, like, not wear sweatpants? Because the studio needs to see you look more stylish—more like the character.’”
Emily Blunt was treated entirely differently after ‘The Devil Wears Prada’
After her second try, Blunt was offered a role in The Devil Wears Prada. The film released in theaters on June 30, 2006, and instantly became a cult classic. Many fans of the movie still quote several lines via social media.
During the same Variety interview, Blunt admitted that her life changed shortly after Devil Wears Prada premiered. The actor said she went from a normal existence to being recognized at her local coffee shop within a week of the film’s debut.
“It was a night and day change,” Blunt said. “The day the movie came out, all the people in the bakery suddenly knew who I was. It was surreal.”
The ‘Quiet Place II’ star is Stanley Tucci’s sister-in-law
Since The Devil Wears Prada, the cast has remained close. In 2009, Stanley Tucci, who played Runway’s longtime artistic director in the film, starred alongside Streep for the second time in Julie & Julia. The following year, Blunt introduced Tucci to her sister, Felicity Blunt. Tucci and Felicity have been together ever since and tied the knot in 2012.
“Ten years after The Devil Wears Prada, Stanley is in my actual family,” Blunt shared in 2016. “How frightening is that? He’s married to my sister.”
The Devil Wears Prada is available to stream on Hulu.
