How Meryl Streep Got Lady Gaga to Drop Everything and Join 'The Devil Wears Prada 2'
Meryl Streep had Lady Gaga's number. That turned out to be all she needed.
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live!Thursday night to promote The Devil Wears Prada 2, which opens in theaters today, Streep explained how the film's most unexpected casting came together. The script called for a pop star to perform live on the runway in Milan. Streep had someone in mind immediately.
'I thought, why don't I get Gaga, because she's so great and she loves fashion,' Streep told Kimmel. 'And I had her number.'
She made the call. Before Streep could even explain what she was asking, Gaga had already said yes. 'I said, 'Well, I haven't asked you what I'm gonna ask you,' Streep recalled. Gaga's response: 'Yeah, anything. What do you want?'
The result turned out to be much than a cameo. Gaga wrote three original songs for the film and delivered a performance Streep called 'spectacular.' She flew in from a world tour on a single day, rehearsed the runway sequence multiple times, and kept pushing on the costume until she found something that worked. 'She kept throwing out the dresses, saying, 'I don't like this,' Streep said. When Gaga finally landed on the look (a pinstripe ensemble), Streep said you could see it click. 'She just tore us up.'
Streep added a good-natured admission about sharing the screen with her. Gaga was 'a little too good' in the scene they had together.
Related: Nicole Kidman Admits Her Daughters 'Will Kill Her' for Sharing This, but She Said It Anyway
The press tour for the film has apparently been an education. Streep told Kimmel she had no idea how much anticipation had built around the sequel. She's not on Instagram, TikTok, or much of anything else. 'All I do is read the news,' she said. But the tour, which took her to Mexico City, New York, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, London, and back again, made it clear. 'Everywhere we went, it was just like this anticipation, affection, appetite for this movie,' she said. 'I wasn't aware of it.'
The enthusiasm surprised her partly because she hadn't realized how deeply the 2006 original had embedded itself. 'I knew it was a popular movie 20 years ago,' she said. 'But I had no idea that there was this sort of big, big, big feel for it.'
Streep was in a notably light mood throughout the interview. Earlier in the day she had been on Hollywood Boulevard for the Walk of Fame ceremonies honoring co-stars Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt, where long-standing Kimmel 'foil' Matt Damon showed up unannounced to give a tribute speech for Tucci and then, according to Streep, wanted to tag along to the Kimmel taping as well.
When Kimmel asked whether anyone ever turns her down, Streep conceded it had happened. But not this time. Gaga, she said, was 'a big get.'
Watch the interview above. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is in theaters now.
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 11:40 AM.