Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway return for ‘Devil Wears Prada’ sequel after 20 years

Meryl Streep, left, and Anne Hathaway attend a press conference for their upcoming movie "The Devil Wears Prada 2" at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Hollywood legend Meryl Streep said she never expected the 2006 movie "The Devil Wears Prada" to resonate as widely as it did, expressing hope that the long-awaited sequel will do the same.

"I always knew it would be very popular with women and girls, but its larger success with a bigger audience completely shocked me," she said Monday at a press event in Seoul. "Men came up to me and said they understood my character. That meant a lot."

The sequel took 20 years after the release of the first film, with Miranda Priestly, played by Streep, still at the helm of Runway magazine as it tries to survive in a rapidly changing media world.

Anne Hathaway also returns as Andy Sachs, now a seasoned investigative journalist, who ends up working with Priestly again.

Hathaway said the 20-year gap between the two films was not too long and that the sequel came at exactly the right time.

"Andy is 22 in the first film, full of ideas but a little light on life experience," she said. "In this film, she has had 20 years to go out and live the life she wanted. She has acquired skill, point of view and a fair bit of humility, but also confidence."

She added that the first film had a lasting personal impact on her as well.

"It opened so many doors for me and gave me so many opportunities," Hathaway said. "Because it became this kind of anchor in my understanding of how audiences responded to me, it let me take a lot more risks and make a lot of really weird choices, which is a space where I am really happy."

Meryl Streep, left, and Anne Hathaway pose with a pair of high heels inspired by traditional Korean flower shoes, gifted to them during a press conference for "The Devil Wears Prada 2" at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Streep reflected on what has changed in the two decades since the first film.

"The first one came out the year before the iPhone," she said. "That thing you all have in your pockets has changed everything in publishing and in our business. That is exactly where this film comes in."

On the question of what message the sequel hopes to send, Streep was straightforward about it.

"I am so loath to put out the idea of a message," she said. "Come to it looking for fun, looking for the underpinnings of some very serious issues we are confronting today. Take from it what you want."

Both actors also spoke warmly about visiting Korea. Streep said she was won over by Korean barbecue long before arriving in Seoul, having visited a Korean barbecue restaurant in Los Angeles for years.

Hathaway said she wished she had more time in the city, with a visit to the Starfield Library topping her list of things she hoped to visit.

"The Devil Wears Prada 2" will be released in theaters here on April 29.