Miranda Priestly once reduced a room full of fashion editors to trembling silence with nothing more than a whisper and a withering glance. Now, as Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci reunite for “The Devil Wears Prada 2”—alongside newcomer Kenneth Branagh as Miranda’s husband—it turns out the cast has a few things to say about the craft behind that kind of power. Here’s the acting wisdom they’ve accumulated along the way.
Do the work, then let it go.
“I’m a big believer in preparation. For me, it helps keep me steady. I think that performers always have doubts; performers always have fear and anxiety. And there’s nothing I can do about that; there’s nothing I can do about what my adrenal glands do other than breathe and try to motivate. But one of the ways I do keep myself steady is by knowing that I’ve done my homework. Even if you’re feeling insecure, just knowing that you’ve worked hard can pump some worth into a moment…. [But] you don’t want to over-rehearse; you don’t want to get things by rote. It’s not about getting the words perfect…[it’s about] the feeling behind them.” —Anne Hathaway
You can’t control how it lands—only how you show up.
“It’s a business that’s built on hope and ‘What if’ and ‘If only I’d.’ Unfortunately, we’re just bombarded by the happy ending…. You’ve got to get the thickest skin possible. Like a rhino hide. It’s a very personal job. Put a helmet on.” —Emily Blunt
“You have absolutely no control over how a project is going to be received. You don’t know if it’s going to make money or flop. You don’t know if you’ll love it or the critics will hate it. You don’t know if the critics will love it but you’ll hate it…. The only thing that you have control over is the time you have making the project.” —Anne Hathaway
“You want to tell stories in your own way, but also I think it was a reaction to wanting to play roles that maybe nobody else would offer you, so you had to create it for yourself. You see the bigger picture of things [after directing]. You see the whole instead of the myopia of just your part. I like to go back and forth because I don’t want to be the guy in charge all the time and I also don’t want to be just a gun for hire all the time.” —Stanley Tucci
Try different approaches to find what’s right.
“[Method acting] was horrible! I was [miserable] in my trailer. I could hear them all rocking and laughing. I was so depressed! I said, ‘Well, it’s the price you pay for being boss!’ That’s the last time I ever attempted a Method thing!” —Meryl Streep
“Acting is not about being someone different. It’s finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there.” —Meryl Streep
Don’t take yourself too seriously—and enjoy the ride!
“You need to be curious pretty much about everything but the business. Be curious about people and their tics and what makes them different. People are fascinating, they really are. I think acting is the ultimate expression of empathy.” —Emily Blunt
“You have to love it. You have to feel passionately about it. It can’t be something you’re quite interested in. Interesting doesn’t come into it if you want to be successful. And by successful, I mean creatively satisfied. Then you’ve got to love it, and you’ve got to give yourself to it. You need to be resilient, and you do need to practice. You’ve got to find a way to practice and to train. To read the books you need to read, to watch the work you need to watch, to write, to create your own work. I think all of that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. It will bring other work in. You need to feel that sense of empowerment. It’s very hard for an actor not working to not feel like an actor. You lose a sense of identity, so I think it’s important, in whatever way you can, to just keep practicing it and trying to find either the good work, the good play, the good role, or the good people. Search out quality in those you work with or in the material that you work on. Find the best of the best of the best in whatever situation you’re in. And dedicate yourself to that utter pursuit of excellence.” —Kenneth Branagh
“When you’re an actor, the line between your life and your career—it’s a blurred one, because you’re living so many hours at your job. So this is your life, too. And these are the people of your life, even if it’s temporary or transient or any of those things. So be fully present in that aspect of it, as well.” —Anne Hathaway
“As soon as you [take yourself too seriously], it’s all over. You learn over the years to work to be serious about what you do but don’t take yourself too seriously.”—Stanley Tucci