At present, Anne Hathway has become irreplaceable, be it The Princess Diaries or The Devil Wears Prada. But did you know she was not the first choice to play the role of Andy Sachs, an aspiring journalist, figuring her way out while landing up at a job in Runway magazine.
The Oscar-winning actress made her virtual appearance at a Friday episode of "RuPaul's Drag Race" where she gave the contestants a pep talk ahead of their musical-theatre challenge. Anne shared some of her acting tips along with one of her struggles involving her iconic role in the Meryl Streep starrer.
One contestant had asked the actress if there were any roles she had to fight for, to which she replied, "How much time do you have? A lot of them"
"I will give you some tea, I was the ninth choice for 'Devil Wears Prada,'" she said. "But I got it! Hang in there, never give up." She shared that she was not the first choice for The Devil Wears Prada. Back then, Fox was keener on having Rachel Mc Adams, who gained fame for her performance in The Notebook and Mean Girls. However, the actress had declined the offer since she was no longer interested in working in mainstream films. After gaining fame, Rachel had decided to take a different direction and later worked in various other films.
Hathaway recalled that she had to wait patiently, and when her agent finally gave a call, she screamed at the top of her lungs. "I was putting on a shirt. I had some buddies over. I remember running out in my living room, half dressed, screaming—I got The Devil Wears Prada! I got The Devil Wears Prada!
The entire cast of the film had been found with a lot of difficulties, mainly, Andy, Nigel and Emily. They both had played Andy's colleagues in the film. The film's director, David Frankel, had considered over 100 actors for the role, but none seemed to fit for the part.
Emily Blunt who was then famous for her lead role in Eragon at the time was on the Fox studio many times. A casting agent had her read lines on tape for the role of Emily, choosing to do them in a British accent despite the character being American. Frankel had found her apt for the role since then.
