Let's not dwell on the truly chilling fact that it has been 15 years since "The Devil Wears Prada" was released, and instead enjoy an interesting tidbit from Entertainment Weekly's (open in new tab) oral history of the film (open in new tab) Andy Sachs' leading lady could be none other than Anne Hathaway, but she turned out to be far from the studio's first choice. In fact, Fox 2000 initially considered Rachel McAdams for the lead role, but she repeatedly turned them down.

"We offered Rachel McAdams three times. The studio decided to cast her, and she turned them down," said director David Frankel, according to Variety's (open in new tab) 2016 oral history (open in new tab), after the worldwide success of The Notebook and Mean Girls, McAdams was looking to play more subdued roles.

Also considered for the role? Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Kirsten Dunst, and Kate Hudson. But Hathaway was determined to win the role." It spoke to me. It spoke to me. It's a very fun, lighthearted take on a subject that I take very seriously," she said.According to Entertainment Weekly, the studio's reluctance was due to her "teen filmography of the time."

Elizabeth Gabler, former president of Fox 2000, recalled Hathaway's efforts to win the role. She recalled, "I remember her sitting on the couch in my office, explaining why she wanted to do this, why she had to play this role, and handing me notes from the script about the third act. In retrospect, that was not what we ended up doing, but her sensibilities were completely in line with what we ended up doing," Gabler said. Annie never gave up." She never stopped campaigning, making phone calls, coming into (FOX executive) Carla Hacken's office and writing in her Zen garden, 'Please hire me.'"

Ultimately, Meryl Streep played a key role in casting Hathaway. "Meryl was so eager to get this movie made that I said, 'Let me meet her,'" Frankel said. Brokeback Mountain was about to be released. Annie had a great little role in it. Meryl saw that scene in the movie, met with her, called Tom Rothman at Fox, and said, 'Oh, she's great.

The news, understandably, delighted Hathaway. 'I waited patiently until it was my turn, and then I got the call. It was the easiest yes in the world. I remember running around my apartment screaming the moment I found out I was going to be in it. I remember running around my apartment screaming, 'I'm going to be in The Devil Wears Prada! I screamed.