Kamal Ghorui
It turns out one of cinema’s most iconic roles almost went to someone else entirely, eight someone else’s, to be precise. Anne Hathaway has revealed that she was the ninth choice to play Andy Sachs in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, a detail she admits has stayed with her long after the film became a cultural landmark. Despite being far down the list, Hathaway refused to give up on the project, and the rest, as they say, is history.Speaking in a joint Capital FM interview alongside her co-star Emily Blunt, Hathaway said, “I wasn’t the first choice to play Andy Sachs. I was actually the ninth choice.” When Blunt asked if she could name the other actresses, Hathaway replied, “Of course I can, they’re tattooed on my brain all these years later.”
How Anne Hathaway fought for the role of Andy Sachs
Rather than letting the rejections discourage her, Hathaway said the project had an almost magnetic pull that kept her determined to stay in the running. “The reason I felt really strongly that I should keep putting myself forward, and I shouldn’t take my eye off the prize, was because the project just had this really unbelievable, almost mystical, magnetism to it, and I could feel it,” she said. “I just was like, ‘It doesn’t matter how you get on this project, just get on it.'”She also joked that watching other actresses turn down the part left her genuinely puzzled. “It was kind of amazing, because I’m just like, ‘Why is everyone turning down this amazing part in this amazing movie?’ I couldn’t figure it out. So now I like to, you know, kid myself and think that it was like some kind of destiny,” she said.Blunt was quick to back up her costar, saying there is “no one else” who could have played the beloved role, to which Hathaway simply responded, “You’re so sweet.”
Which actresses were originally considered for the role
This is not the first time Hathaway has spoken about being the ninth choice. Back in 2021, she revealed the same detail during an appearance on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’, telling contestant Rosé, “I will give you some tea: I was the ninth choice for ‘Devil Wears Prada’. But I got it! Hang in there, never give up.”According to Marie Claire, among those who auditioned or were considered for the part were Rachel McAdams, Juliette Lewis, Claire Danes, Kirsten Dunst, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, and Kate Hudson.
Anne Hathaway on life now versus filming the original
Hathaway also reflected on how different she feels returning to the role two decades later for ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’, which released on May 1. “The thing that struck me was that when we made the first one, I was just a 22-year-old mess,” she said in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE. “I’m in such a different phase of my life. I’m really lucky. I found someone that I love so much. We’ve been married for 17 years. We’ve got two kids. I just feel like my life is in a much more complete and whole place. I felt so lost when I was 22, which really worked for the character.”From ninth choice to one of cinema’s most memorable roles, Hathaway’s journey to playing Andy Sachs is a story that fans of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ will now find even harder to forget.
