The Notebook star Rachel McAdams turned down the role of Andrea “Andy” Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada three times before Anne Hathaway was ultimately cast instead, the film’s director has revealed.
“The studio was determined to have her, and she was determined not to do it,” David Frankel recalled of McAdams’ reluctance to join the cast in an Entertainment Weekly profile marking the upcoming 15th anniversary of the 2006 film.
The film’s studio, Fox 2000, had wanted an “established dramatic actress over Hathaway and her then teen-oriented filmography,” according to EW.
Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Kate Hudson and Kirsten Dunst were also reportedly preferred over Hathaway, who has previously said she was the ninth choice to appear with Meryl Streep in the movie.
But Hathaway “never stopped campaigning, calling” about the role, former Fox 2000 President Elizabeth Gabler told EW, adding that the actor even went so far as to write “Hire Me” in the zen garden of the studio’s then-vice president, Carla Hacken.
Hathaway said when the offer finally came, it was “the easiest yes in the world.”
“I remember the moment I found out I got the part, I just ran screaming through my apartment,” she told EW. “I had a bunch of friends over at the time. I just jumped up in the living room and screamed, ‘I’m going to be in The Devil Wears Prada!’”