Miranda Priestly
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| Miranda Priestly | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | The Devil Wears Prada |
| Created by | Lauren Weisberger |
| Portrayed by | Meryl Streep |
| Information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 58 |
| Date of birth | May 30, 1949 Gemini |
| Occupation | Fashion editor |
| Title | Editor-in-chief, Runway magazine |
| Family | Stephen Tomlinson (husband), Caroline and Cassidy |
| Spouse(s) | "B-DAD" in novel; Stephen in film. One previous marriage |
| Children | Twin daughters Cassidy and Caroline, age 8 |
Miranda Priestly (born Miriam Princhek; May 30, 1949) is a character in Lauren Weisberger's 2003 novel The Devil Wears Prada, portrayed by Meryl Streep in the 2006 film adaptation of the novel.
She is a powerful New York City-based editor-in-chief of the fictional fashion magazine Runway. She is known as much for her icy demeanor, as for her outstanding power within the fashion world.
She was born Miriam Princhek in the East End of London. Her family was orthodox Jewish and was poor but devout. The family relied on the community for support because her father worked odd jobs only occasionally and her mother had died in childbirth. Miriam's grandmother moved in with the family to assist in raising the children. Miriam saved the small bills that her siblings would give her and worked as an assistant to a British designer. She made a name for herself in London's fashion world and studied French at night and was made junior editor of the Chic magazine in Paris. When she was twenty-four Miriam changed her name to Miranda Priestly and replaced her rough accent with a sophisticated one. Miranda spent ten years at French Runway before Elias-Clark transferred her to American Runway. She, her two twin daughters, and her husband moved to a penthouse apartment on Fifth Avenue and 76th Street. She is the editor-in-chief of Runway, a very chic and influential fashion magazine published by the Elias-Clark company. She is known for wearing a white Hermès scarf in her everyday outfit and treating her subordinates in a manner that borders on emotional and psychological abuse.
While she reminds employees "a million girls would die for this job", Priestly's cruel treatment of staff causes a high turnover rate among personal assistants.
Priestly has twin daughters, who one review suggested "look like extras from The Omen."[1]
In the film version, her past is not mentioned at all.
Contents |
[edit] Comparisons of the character
[edit] Novel
Weisberger denies that Miranda Priestly is modeled on Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, saying in the publicity material for the book[2] that her antics and demands are partially fictional and partially a composite of actual experiences she and her friends had in their first jobs. But others familiar with Wintour, who makes a walk-on appearance near the end of the novel (and in fact is later described as having a bitter rivalry with Miranda), say there are specific similarities between life and art:
- Both serve as trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Both have trouble remembering the names of people who work for them.
- Both are known for a fashion quirk: Miranda for her white Hermes scarf and Anna for often wearing sunglasses indoors.
- Both are native Londoners who never attended college.
- Both have distanced themselves from at least part of their family background.
- Both are "size-zero" thin.
- Both have two children by a previous husband.
- Both have new or old male companionship who are Texan natives.
[edit] Film
In the film she is a more sympathetic character than portrayed in the book. Whilst she remains just as ruthless and manipulative as she was in the book she is seen in a few moments of vulnerability three quarters of the way into the film in she confides to Andrea her distress about her failing marriage and the effect she is worried it will have on her daughters. The film incarnation of Priestly also speaks with an American accent, which strongly suggests the film character is not a Briton as portrayed in the novel.
Most, if not all reviews and articles of the movie made reference to Wintour. Nicknamed "Nuclear Wintour", Anna has been known to possess most of the same traits as Priestly, although she has shown more redeeming traits. Streep has told multiple reporters that she did not personally base her portrayal on Wintour, but instead on men she has known; Streep actually didn't meet Wintour until a pre-release screening of the movie. Other inspirations for Streep's portrayal include Martha Stewart and the ghost of Joan Crawford from Mommie Dearest."[1].
Nearly all critics of the film raved about Meryl Streep's performance as the cold, calculating Miranda Priestly. Meryl Streep received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress but lost to Helen Mirren in The Queen. It was Streep's 14th nomination, furthering her impressive record. Streep received a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her portrayal of Priestly, that being her sixth Golden Globe.
[edit] Cultural impact
In May 2007, the popular American soap opera General Hospital introduced a new character Kate Howard patterned after the character of Miranda Priestly. Kate is much like Miranda, the only noticeable difference being age.[3] Later that year, the "Money" episode of the US version of The Office began with Michael Scott (Steve Carell), who had just been watching the film, yelling "Steak!" and "Get me Armani!" to the Dunder-Mifflin receptionist, Pam.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Peter Howell, "The devil in Ms. Streep", Toronto Star, Toronto ON: Torstar, 30 June 2006. Page C3, 6 columns.
- ^ Weisberger, Lauren; Q and A; randomhouse.com; retrieved September 3, 2006.
- ^ The Devil (from Benson Hurst!) Wears Prada. - General Hospital Daily Updates - Soaps.com
