Meryl Streep’s frostiness on the set of “Devil Wears Prada” gave Anne Hathaway more than a chill.
On Thursday’s episode of “The Late Show” the “Ocean’s 8” actress explained to host Stephen Colbert how her anxiety around her distant co-star on the set of the 2006 comedy — in which Streep played high fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly and Hathaway her assistant Andy — got so bad she felt like she was being “throw into a demonic pit.”
“There’s a scene where Andy and Miranda are getting out of a car, and in order to get the shot Meryl and I had to sit in the car and circle,” Hathaway explained. “Now, Meryl was kind of an island unto herself when we filmed this, so I didn’t get to talk to her too much. But I was going to get a whole scene to sit into a car with her just her and me. And I was just freaking out.”
“And you have to understand, like talking can be hard for me. Sorry, I’ll explain later,” she said to laughter from the audience. “And so but, I was like, ‘I’m going to take advantage of this moment. I’m going to force myself to speak to Meryl Streep.’ But I couldn’t just talk to her. I couldn’t just be a person. I had to impress her. And like Meryl’s cultured and I’m going to be cultured for Meryl Streep! So I was like, ‘Meryl, Meryl have you ever heard the Nick Drake album ‘Pink Moon’? I’ve just heard it, it’s wonderful.’ ‘No, Annie, I haven’t heard it.’ ‘Oh I can burn you a copy if you want!’ And she’s like, ‘That would be lovely, Annie. Thank you so much.’ And then we go off and we do the first take.”
“So then we’re circling the block a second time and I go, ‘Meryl, by any chance have you read the Jeffrey Eugenides book?’ And she says, ‘No, Annie I haven’t.’ ‘Oh, I can lend you my copy!’ And she says, ‘Thank you, Annie. That would be wonderful.’ Second take.”
“Then third run I’m like, ‘OK, I think this is going well,’” Hathaway said, laughing. “So, I’m like ‘Meryl, Meryl, by any chance did you see the ‘Daily Show with Jon Stewart’ last night? I think that he is just so brilliant. I think he is saving America.’ Dead silence.”
“Now, the thing I said I was going to explain earlier is I have anxiety,” Hathaway continued. “And if you have anxiety, and you force yourself to talk to someone, being met with silence is like being thrown into a demonic pit. It’s so bad. And so I’m sitting there in the silence thinking my life was over. And then finally, finally she goes, ‘Noo, I don’t think Jon Stewart is going to save America. I think Stephen Colbert is.’”
And the late-night host took that compliment just as you’d expect he would have.
Watch clip above.