Emily Blunt says Devil Wears Prada 2 has been a ‘rude awakening’

Star says wearing heels again has been a shock

Actor Emily Blunt has said that returning to the wardrobe of The Devil Wears Prada for the forthcoming sequel has been a rude awakening.

The 42-year-old prefers casual, baggy clothing in her day-to-day life. “I quite like oversized; I like to hide, I like to shroud,” said the star.

Therefore, swapping trainers for the heels preferred by her character felt “wild”.

Blunt told Porter magazine: “I don’t love wearing heels, so getting back to The Devil Wears Prada has been a rude awakening for all of us.”

Gisele Bundchen and Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada (Alamy/PA)

Blunt is reprising her role as Emily Charlton, the senior assistant of magazine editor Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, who is also returning for the new film.

The original movie, based on Lauren Weisberger's novel of the same name, was released in 2006 and has since become a cult hit.

Blunt said that none of the cast expected the film to have the “meteoric life” it has since experienced but has started to understand why it means so much to fans.

“Of course, I meet people who will quote the movie to me, but I'm not sure I've ever been hit with a bombardment of the realisation of what the movie is to people coming back to the film set." Blunt added: "That's what everyone says, every day: holy s***."

David Frankel is directing the sequel, which reportedly follows Miranda Priestly struggling in the declining magazine industry. The movie sees the formidable editor forced to reconcile with her former assistant, played by Blunt, who now works as an executive at a luxury conglomerate with the kind of advertising budget Priestly needs.

Anne Hathaway is also returning as Andy Sachs for the film, with Stanley Tucci reprising the part of Nigel Kipling. Kenneth Branagh joined the cast recently as Priestley’s husband.

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The original comedy drama, followed Sachs, an aspiring journalist hired as co-assistant at a major New York fashion magazine, only to be mistreated by her demanding editor. The movie made over $326m at the international box office and Streep was nominated for Best Actress by the Screen Actors Guild.

Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ (20th Century Fox)

Weisberger published a sequel to the novel in 2013, Revenge Wears Prada, and the film was transformed into a musical, premiering on the West End in 2024.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is to be released in summer 2026.