Vanessa Williams as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada musical

The word “iconic” gets thrown around a lot today, but the 2006 film, The Devil Wears Prada, is undoubtedly iconic. From its sparkling ensemble cast to its exceedingly quotable script, the movie is probably one of the most indelible films of the 2000s.

So, when it was announced that a musical adaptation would be opening on the West End at the end of last year, we knew we had to find out more.

The Devil Wears Prada is now playing at Dominion Theatre, but began life as early as 2017. After a brief run in Chicago in 2022, the musical went back into development and emerged as a West End show with Ugly Betty star Vanessa Williams at the helm.

Matt Henry stars alongside Vanessa as Nigel in the musical

Playing a character like Miranda Priestly – originally portrayed by Meryl Streep in the movie – is a huge undertaking, but Vanessa is no stranger to lighting up the stage, screen and studio.

After becoming the first Black woman to win the Miss America title, Vanessa embarked on a successful singing career, later appearing in TV shows such as Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives, and even earning a Tony award nomination for her performance in the 2002 Broadway revival of Into the Woods.

Her co-star, Georgie Buckland, who plays Anne Hathaway’s character Andy Sachs in the show, makes her West End debut with the role, after touring with the likes of Shrek the Musical and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

HuffPost UK recently sat down with Vanessa and Georgie for our interview series, Question & Art. Here are nine things they revealed to us about putting together the musical, and what it’s been like to star in the West End hit so far...

First of all, Vanessa doesn’t stand for comparisons to her movie counterpart, Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep played Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada movie, released in 2006

“I refused to be compared”, Vanessa told us when asked whether it was intimidating to take on the character of Miranda Priestly, which was made popular by Meryl.

“I’ve heard this question over and over again, and I knew that I was going to make it my own… that’s been the feedback from everyone who’s seen it. After they sit down in their seat, they say ‘I completely forgot who was playing it before and I love the journey that you took me on’. And that’s what you have to do as an actor.”

How do The Devil Wears Prada musical stars Vanessa Williams and Georgie Buckland feel about being compared to Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep in the movie? 😈👠 #devilwearsprada#thedevilwearsprada#westend#vanessawilliams#annehathaway#merylstreep#theatre#musicaltheatre#musicals#viral#fy#fyp

Georgie had a crush on the movie’s lead Anne Hathaway growing up

Anne Hathaway portrayed Andrea "Andy" Sachs in the movie, Miranda's second assistant

When asked whether she found it intimidating to fill Anne’s (designer) shoes, Georgie shared that for her, there was a certain pressure to live up to expectations. “This is kind of my first big anything, so I felt a lot of pressure”.

But has Anne been in touch to congratulate her yet?

“No one’s reached out; I was hoping Anne Hathaway would because when I was a kid, and still now, she was like the one for me that I was obsessed with… I think I had a crush on her a little bit.”

She continued, “I still really want to meet her, so who knows, here’s to hoping. But I’d be nervous if she came to see it... I’d be shitting my pants!”

Question & Art | We asked The Devil Wears Prada musical stars Vanessa Williams and Georgie Buckland whether any of the movie cast had been in touch with them since they began working on the show 😈👠

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