Anne Hathaway "almost fell off" her chair when she first heard Meryl Streep speak as Miranda Priestly for The Devil Wears Prada because her voice was so unexpected.
In the 2006 movie, Anne played college graduate Andy Sachs, who lands a job as a co-assistant to powerful Runway magazine editor Miranda, played by Meryl.
She expected Meryl to be loud when she delivered her lines as Miranda, so was completely thrown off when the Oscar winner opted for a softer approach.
"I'd read the script so many times, and I was expecting (Meryl) to come in imperious, loud, and barking orders, and (she) said (her) first line in a whisper and I almost fell off my chair," Anne shared as part of Entertainment Weekly's oral history of the film.
The Mamma Mia! star explained that she took a leaf out of Clint Eastwood's book with her whispered delivery.
"It was a direct steal from the way I saw Clint Eastwood run a set," she revealed. "He's someone that guys really respect, and he never raises his voice, ever; the one time that he did, it so terrified people for two weeks, they were traumatised. In drama school (a teacher) said, 'How you play a king has nothing to do with you - you're just you - it's how everybody else in the room acts when you enter it that makes you the king.' It was all up to them to have this reaction. I could just speak and be slightly nastier than I normally am."
To maintain the frosty relationship between Andy and Miranda, Meryl wasn't friendly with Anne off-camera, but the Les Misérables star knew she was doing it for the film and to get the best out of her.
"I did feel intimidated, but I always felt cared for. I knew that whatever she was doing to create that fear, I appreciated (because) I also knew she was watching out for me," she praised.
