“I remember David calling me from set and asking, ‘Can you write a few more lines for the beginning of the conference room scene?’ So I wrote, ‘Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking.’”

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When director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna first worked on the iconic film, they had no idea they'd be creating one of the most quotable movies of the 2000s — or that Andy, Miranda, and Nigel would be returning for another round.

To celebrate the release of The Devil Wears Prada 2 on streaming, I chatted with David and Aline about behind-the-scenes stories from both movies and how they approached bringing these iconic characters back two decades later.

David: I wouldn't have believed you, honestly. I actually kept a journal during the making of the first movie, and it was a very difficult production. I loved everybody, but it certainly wasn't easy.

Back in those days, all we thought was, "Please God, let us work again." There wasn't this idea that we were creating something anybody would be watching years later. 

As Aline calls it, it was lightning in a bottle. Maybe you get that once in your career, and we never imagined revisiting it. It didn't seem possible to put these characters back together again in any realistic, authentic, dramatic way — and then miraculously, Aline had this lovely insight about how to do that.

Aline: I had no idea. What really struck me at the time was how incredible the actors were. I remember David calling me from set and asking, "Can you write a few more lines for the beginning of the conference room scene?" So I wrote, "Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking," and then went right back to whatever else I was working on.

You can't really have any sense of it while you're working, because you're just trying to tell the story the best you can. So when it came to the sequel, I certainly did not want to try to craft any zingers.

Aline: With the first movie, you set the bar as high as you can, then do the best work you can. With a sequel, you have to tune out all the outside expectations as much as possible and focus on the task in front of you. 

We were really excited to tell this story again, and honestly, we didn't have a lot of time to ponder. We met with Meryl [Streep] in the spring of '24, and the script was done by the end of that year. We were prepping six months later, and then shooting through to October. 

Post-production was very fast — constantly looking at cuts, testing, and doing all that. It was a very quick process, and that's why David sometimes refers to it as a "Polaroid."

Aline: The journalism, fashion, and media worlds had changed, so we did a lot of thinking and talking about that. Even the social media content and graphics had to feel legit. The memes really are funny, and getting all of that right was important.

David: We had to introduce a new generation of people at Runway.

Aline: A funny story — I had a friend who was watching it, and when Helen [Shen]'s character Jin is introduced, you see that she's a little insecure and talking too much. My friend thought, "I wonder if this is going to be a Gen Z character who doesn't know how to do anything?" 

Then she thought, "I know Aline likes young people, so I bet Jin's going to turn out to be the low-key hero of the movie." And she does! My friend was right — I really do love young people, and I loved working with that company of young folks. They were all incredible.

What we didn't want to change was the voice, tone, and pace of the movie. One of the things that makes both movies work, I think, is the breathlessness of it. You feel like you don't have a second to catch your breath.

That's really fun to write, but not the easiest because everything has to be very urgent. You can't have two straight hours of climactic action — it has to be paced out, but also feel speedy.

David: Not only that, you're creating urgency out of people working in an office. It's not like there are kidnappers, thieves, and car chases. It's a testament to Aline's great screenwriting that she creates that urgency.

Aline: When I was writing scenes for Nigel's character and sending David pages, Nigel sort of emerged as the moral heart of the movie. I wrote more dimensions for him in particular, especially because of the incredibly graceful way that Stanley [Tucci] underplays it, and because I had always wanted to do more with Nigel in the previous movie. 

I'm not sure if he has more screen time in the sequel, but he pulls some really, really interesting story levers this time around. Especially in the scene where Miranda says, "Have I taken you for granted?" I was very, very excited to see him get that moment.

David: I love how the sequel presents another side of Miranda Priestly. She's older — I don't know if she's wiser — but she's definitely more vulnerable, both professionally and personally. I love those moments where we really get to feel her anguish, and also see her question what the future holds.

Aline: I love how the story unfolds, especially with the real business stakes and machinations. There's a little of that in the first movie, but there's a whole lot more of that in the second half of the sequel. That was very fun to write. I was hoping that the audience was going to track all of it, and they really did. The first time we showed it to an audience, they understood exactly what was happening, which was really gratifying. 

David: I'm proudest of the emotional twists that the movie makes. For example, the surprising moments between Miranda and Nigel, and the lovely final moment between Nigel and Andy. The cleverness of those moments on the page, and then seeing the performers bring them to life, is really gratifying.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is available on Digital and is now streaming exclusively on Disney+ and Hulu.

Note: This interview was edited for length and clarity.