the devil you know

Devil Wears Prada Screenwriter Weighs In on Which Character Is Currently Living ‘In Hell’

Photo: 20th Century Fox

This week, Entertainment Weekly is celebrating the 15th anniversary of The Devil Wears Prada’s release with a look back at the 2006’s fashion-world comedy, part of which asks the film’s screenwriter, Aline Brosh McKenna, to imagine where Prada’s protagonists, first conceived in author Lauren Weisberger’s 2003 novel, might be a decade and a half later. While McKenna predicts good things for Anne Hathaway’s character career-wise (“Andy has a podcast on Slate or works for Axios,”), she also imagines Andy “scrambling” after breaking up with Nate (Adrian Grenier.) “I don’t think they’ve seen each other in 10 years,” she muses. Still, it’s a whole (literal) hell of a lot better than what McKenna envisions for Stanley Tucci’s poor, overly loyal Runway veteran Nigel, who she suspects is likely still toiling away at the magazine, never managing to escape Miranda Priestley (Meryl Streep) or her powerful orbit, despite his best efforts.

“Miranda still has her fingernails into the difficult climbing wall that is fashion and media and has probably only expanded her range,” says McKenna. “Nigel is still by her side. I don’t think he ever gets out. It’s the Faust story, and he’s in hell. He’s still ferrying people back and forth across the River Styx, because he doesn’t have a choice.” Oh no. Of course.

If it makes you feel any better, though, Emily (Emily Blunt) has married a Scandinavian royal family member and “is in the Denmark tabloids wearing some fabulous asymmetric taffeta thing.” Which feels great, especially knowing she got mowed down by a cab, all in the pursuit of that fabulousness.

Devil Wears Prada Screenwriter Reveals Who Lives ‘In Hell’