All the major celebs who were axed last minute from The Devil Wears Prada 2 – and why

Anna Wintour’s cameo stirred a lot of controversy

It’s been 20 years, yet the hype around The Devil Wears Prada 2 is huge – especially considering a lot of people buzzing around it were still in primary school when the first film came out.

With so many of the original cast featuring in the sequel, it’s always a gamble whether it’s going to pay homage to the original or if it’ll feel like a cheap Mean Girls 2-esque knock off.

Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci are all in the sequel, as well as other famous names including Justin Theroux and Lucy Liu.

But there are a number of celebrity cameos which had to be cut from The Devil Wears Prada 2 – here’s why.

Anna Wintour

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by WINTOURWORLD (@wintourworld)

Arguably, this would have made for an incredible celebrity cameo, especially given Anna Wintour’s real-life influence on fashion and everything that comes with it. She’s recognisable by a bob and sunglasses for a reason, having served as the lead chairperson of the Met Gala global fashion event since the 1990s.

But director, David Frankel, explained she was almost too famous to feature in the film. Including Anna Wintor gave a “too meta” effect, where the line between fiction and reality became too blurred – a similar effect to what was felt when a meme from the first film slipped into the second, angering viewers. 

Anna was savagely cut from the production in order to keep the story accurate and separate from real life fashion moguls like Vogue and the rest.

Sydney Sweeney

Surprisingly, Sydney Sweeney was another celebrity cameo cut from The devil Wears Prada 2. In the movie, Sydney played herself but had very little screen time. If anything it was more of an easter egg. The super short scene showed Sydney being styled by Emily Blunt’s character, Emily Charlton, in a Dior office. And that’s it.

The scene was removed whilst editing, reportedly due to creative structure and not performance. Filmmakers claimed Sydney’s screentime didn’t fit smoothly into the final narrative, according to reports from Entertainment Weekly.

A source explained how “the scene did not work structurally with the rest of the sequence”, and, in the end, it was scrapped entirely, not because it wasn’t good, but because it didn’t quite fit.

A source claimed Sydney wasn’t thrilled by the news either, after she was excited to be a part of the project.

Adrian Grenier (Nate)

devil wears prada 2 celebrity cameos

via YouTube

OG viewers will remember Nate from the first movie, the cute boyfriend of Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway). Played by Adrien Grenier, he was actually supposed to make a return to the movie – and the excuse directors used for why he didn’t is pretty silly.

Whilst only considered for a short return, a lot of people were disappointed to see he didn’t make an appearance. The director confirmed that a cameo was discussed, however it didn’t work due to scheduling issues and production timing. Boring!

Conrad Ricamora

It was decided that Andy’s roommate, played by Conrad, would not make a return to the sequel. But the final decision was made after Conrad was cast and completed filming for the movie – brutal.

The decision ultimately came after test screenings, where audiences were confused about the character’s relevance. Others thought it wasn’t right for Andy to still have a roommate 20 years later, according to Variety.

Conrad took it on the chin, saying he understood the reasoning and still valued the experience.

Featured image via YouTube and Instagram @sydney_sweeney @adriangrenier

More on: Celebrity Film The Devil Wears Prada