Theatergoers saw The Devil Wears Prada for the first time more than 15 years ago, but discourse on the generation-defining film is still as passionate as ever. And now, the movie’s star, Anne Hathaway, has entered the chat.
During a recent guest appearance on Watch What Happens Live, the actress—who plays aspiring journalist Andy Sachs in the 2006 movie—rejected a popular fan opinion about who the film’s real villain is.
“Do you agree with fans that Nate was the true villain of The Devil Wears Prada?” a fan asked Hathaway during the show, referring to Andy’s onscreen boyfriend, who was played by Adrian Grenier.
Host Andy Cohen quickly affirmed the question, answering, “Yes! He was!”
“Well, Andy’s answered for me,” Hathaway joked, before adding, “No. I’m sorry, I don’t. I think that they were both very young and figuring things out.”
In The Devil Wears Prada, Andy navigates the overwhelming demands of her workplace as an assistant to Runway Editor-in-Chief Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). In the process, she begins to get sucked into the glittering world of the fashion industry, losing sight of her original career goal and neglecting her relationship with Nate and her friends. She ultimately ends up choosing herself, eschewing both the toxic boss and boyfriend. (Although, the end of the movie hints at a possible reunion with Nate.)
Though the film makes a point to paint Miranda as a villain, fans have taken it upon themselves to flip the script—condemning Nate as a selfish person uninterested in supporting the evolving career of his girlfriend.
Still, Hathaway doesn’t fully agree with that take.
“He did behave like a brat, but I also behaved like a brat in my 20s, and I hopefully grew out of it,” she explained. “I think that that’s what we all do. And I wouldn’t want to be defined by my worst moment in my 20s certainly. So I don’t hold Nate as a villain, actually.”
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Grenier, too, has acknowledged the controversial public opinion on his character.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly last year, the actor noted, “I didn’t see some of the subtleties and the nuance of this character and what it represented in the film until the wisdom of the masses came online and started to push against the character and throw him under the bus, and I got flak.”
He recalled a scene in the movie in which Nate is frustrated with Andy, who misses his birthday celebration due to work obligations. “At the end of the day, it’s just a birthday, right? It’s not the end of the world,” Grenier said. “I might’ve been as immature as him at the time, so I personally couldn’t see his shortcomings. But after time to reflect and much deliberation, I’ve come to realize the truth in that perspective.”
In the same interview, Hathaway expressed some empathy for Nate’s reaction.
“Nate was pouty on his birthday because his girlfriend wasn’t there!” she said. “In hindsight, I’m sure he wishes he made a different choice, but who doesn’t? We’ve all been brats at different points. We all just need to live, let live, do better!”
