“Meryl was eager to make the movie, and she said ‘let me meet with her,’ ” director David Frankel recalled. “Brokeback Mountain was about to come out. Annie had a wonderful, small role in that. And Meryl watched that scene from the movie, she met with her and called up Tom Rothman at Fox and said, ‘Yeah, this girl’s great, and I think we’ll work well together.’ ”

Hathaway, 38, ended up getting the role after McAdams passed on it three times. The list of other actresses in consideration included Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Kate Hudson and Kirsten Dunst.

Rachel McAdams Turned Down Anne Hathaway’s Role in The Devil Wears Prada 3 Times, Director Says

In the end, Hathaway’s connection to the script came through enough for her to be cast.

“It spoke to me. It made me feel,” Hathaway recalled. “It was about a subject that I take very seriously, but in such a wonderfully joyful and lighthearted way.”

“I patiently waited until it was my turn, and I got the call,” she added. “It was the easiest yes in the world. I remember the moment I found out I got the part, I just ran screaming through my apartment. I had a bunch of friends over at the time, I just jumped up in the living room and screamed, ‘I’m going to be in The Devil Wears Prada!’ ”

Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada (2006). Barry Wetcher/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock

According to Frankel, Fox 2000 – the studio behind the movie – wanted an established actress and McAdams was their first choice due to her success in The Notebook and Mean Girls at the time.

“We started negotiating with Annie to make a deal, and that didn’t go well with the studio.… We offered it to Rachel McAdams three times,” he recalled. “The studio was determined to have her, and she was determined not to do it.”

Anne Hathaway Says She Was the Ninth Choice for Devil Wears Prada Role: ‘Never Give Up’

To convince the studio, Hathaway met with executives and relentlessly campaigned for the part, even writing the words “hire me” in the zen garden of then-Fox 2000 vice president Carla Hacken.

Also starring Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada grossed $326 million worldwide and helped snag Streep her 12th Oscar nomination.