Meryl Streep on Excitement for The Devil Wears Prada 2, Calling Lady Gaga & Being a Grandma

0:00 Our first guest tonight might very well be the greatest actor of all

0:03 time and I'll I'll fight if she if you say she ain't.

0:06 She is back as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada 2.

0:10 It opens in theaters tomorrow.

0:12 Please welcome Meryl Streep.

0:34 Welcome.

0:35 Welcome.

0:55 You must get this all You must get this every time you go out, huh?

0:59 Every time I come home.

1:01 How are you doing?

1:01 Everything all right?

1:03 Everything all right.

1:03 How are you?

1:04 Good.

1:04 I'm good.

1:05 Thank you.

1:05 I'm you know, I'm holding up.

1:06 Yeah, you are.

1:08 You're a prince.

1:09 You are a knight templar.

1:11 You are Thank you.

1:17 YOU'RE CARRYING THE BANNER OF FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.

1:20 I'm just trying to do some jokes and uh Yeah, but we all depend on you.

1:25 Well, thank you for saying that.

1:27 is listening.

1:28 I've just come around the world.

1:30 Wow, you're very kind to say that.

1:32 I'm I'm honored particularly to hear

1:35 that from you because uh I mean you honestly,

1:38 do you get embarrassed when people they must

1:40 gush over you all the time, I would imagine.

1:42 Everywhere you go, you probably get You know, I don't think they know me.

1:47 Is that true?

1:48 Yeah.

1:49 Um no, I mean yeah.

1:51 What don't we know about you?

1:52 You're You're uncomfortable praise.

1:54 like getting dressed up.

1:55 You don't?

1:56 Okay.

1:56 A, I just had a big fight with my stylist.

1:59 You did.

2:02 Because they wanted me to wear ostrich feathers and I just thought it's Jimmy.

2:08 I just want to, you know.

2:09 what?

2:09 I don't think you needed the And by the way,

2:11 the ostrich now is running around naked, so you got to think about that.

2:15 I know, for nothing.

2:16 You were out on Hollywood Boulevard today,

2:19 which I wouldn't I would not recommend.

2:21 Uh you were honoring two of your very close friends,

2:25 Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt, Yes.

2:28 who were getting their stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2:30 You co-starred in this film.

2:32 AND I THINK WE HAVE A PHOTOGRAPH HERE.

2:34 Let's go back to this.

2:34 So, on the left we've got Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, we got Robert Downey Jr.,

2:38 we got Stanley Tucci, we have Emily Blunt, we have Meryl Streep, and other.

2:45 Yeah.

2:45 What was he doing there?

2:47 Well, was he just out there and he walked into the shot?

2:51 He just wanted to be there, you know.

2:55 Yeah.

2:55 It's sad, isn't it?

2:56 They have given him a star.

2:58 They did?

2:59 Very far away.

3:00 Oh, not in Hollywood.

3:03 It wasn't adjacent to the

3:06 Eagle Rock, right, the star?

3:09 No, I think it's probably even further.

3:12 Good.

3:13 Um but yeah, he he was there to um pay tribute to Emily.

3:19 And so was The Rock, and so was Robert Downey Jr.

3:24 And I was there to pay tribute to Stanley,

3:28 but then Matt Damon paid tribute to him, too.

3:32 Oh.

3:33 On On the manners Donald asked for.

3:37 Oh.

3:37 I mean, he's always pushing his way

3:40 to come with me tonight.

3:42 He did, yeah.

3:43 Yeah.

3:44 Yeah.

3:44 He gave a speech.

3:45 He gave a very nice speech about Stanley,

3:47 but you referred to yourself as a whiner in that speech,

3:50 which I find hard to believe.

3:52 No, I referred to myself as the world's greatest whiner.

3:56 The world's greatest whiner.

3:57 I guess that's better than being a whiner.

3:59 Stanley and I bond on that, because we both complain,

4:02 because basically we have nothing to complain about, really.

4:06 Really, let's face it.

4:09 But we we do enjoy, you know, bitching about things, you know, everything.

4:15 Doesn't everybody like to do that?

4:17 I mean, it's It is fun.

4:19 IT'S FUN.

4:22 MY WIFE SOMETIMES SAYS TO ME, LIKE, WE SHOULD NOT BE,

4:24 you know, complaining about things in front of the kids,

4:27 and then I go, "Yeah, yeah,

4:28 you're right." And I go, "Yeah, but it's so much fun." It is so much fun.

4:32 How are they going to learn to complain about everything that happens to them?

4:36 Exactly.

4:36 Exactly.

4:37 have more of now, um, Oscars or grandchildren?

4:41 Oh, definitely grandchildren.

4:43 Grandchildren.

4:43 How many?

4:44 Well, I have six.

4:45 And what are their ages?

4:46 Um, seven, four, four, three, two, and one.

4:51 No.

4:52 No.

4:52 Seven, four, four, three, three, one.

4:56 Those are all fun ages, right?

4:59 Seven, five, four, four, three, three, one.

5:03 Dial that number.

5:06 THEY KEEP HAVING BIRTHDAYS.

5:09 I THINK YOU JUST ACCIDENTALLY GAVE OUT YOUR SOCIAL security number.

5:13 It could be.

5:14 Let's see.

5:15 Last summer it was great, because they were six, five, four, three, two, one.

5:18 And then now they have a lot of birthdays.

5:20 They have to just kind of stay in line to make it easier.

5:23 What do they call you?

5:25 They call me Mimi.

5:26 Mimi, okay.

5:27 Did you tell them to call you Mimi, or did the first one come up with that?

5:30 one came up with it, yeah.

5:31 Oh, yeah.

5:32 I'm waiting for my my granddaughter is is almost about about to turn one,

5:36 but I'm waiting to find out what my name is going to be.

5:41 Well, you probably would have heard it by now.

5:43 Well, she's not speaking yet, so yeah.

5:45 I mean, she says, you know, that kind of things, but not really not enough.

5:51 Uh-huh.

5:50 Yeah, yeah.

5:50 Maybe mine will be ah.

5:53 Are you a cool grandma?

5:55 I don't know.

5:56 I'm a I'm a hm I think I'm a little like Miranda Priestly as a grandma.

6:03 Really?

6:05 Cuz I like the rules, dear.

6:06 I do.

6:09 You know, rules are rules.

6:10 fired any OF THE CHILDREN?

6:14 NO, BUT YOU KNOW THEY'RE they're they're

6:18 kids get to hear you read to them?

6:20 Do you read to them?

6:21 Sure.

6:22 Oh, wow.

6:23 They have no idea how good they have it.

6:27 Yeah, yesterday B.J.

6:29 Novak sent over So, he's in The Devil Wears Prada.

6:33 And he he also wrote a children's book.

6:36 That's my kids' favorite book.

6:37 Yeah.

6:38 It's and he just sent it over and they we I was really

6:41 mad at him because we had to read it nine times in a row.

6:45 So, the book with no pictures, right?

6:47 And it is so good.

6:48 is a It's a great book.

6:50 It's also torture for any adult who has to read it.

6:53 It requires a lot, but oh boy, I bet Big acting.

6:56 He would love to hear you read that.

6:58 So, you really put you Oh, yeah.

7:00 You Oh, you do.

7:02 Maybe I'll do the audio book or something.

7:03 Yeah.

7:04 I think they I think they came out a while ago,

7:06 but I'm sure they would redo it for you.

7:09 Redo Have you done Harry Potter?

7:11 Have you read that to the kids?

7:12 No, sure.

7:13 Yeah, I read that to Louisa who's now 34.

7:16 But I The whole thing?

7:19 Not recently.

7:20 I read it when she was, you know, in like the third grade or something.

7:24 We're halfway through it with my kids.

7:26 Yeah.

7:27 Yeah.

7:27 They like it.

7:28 I am enjoy reading it.

7:30 Uh do you do the characters when you read?

7:33 You do the I heard you do the characters too.

7:34 I No, I do one I only do Hagrid.

7:37 That is the only character that I do.

7:39 That's That's my character.

7:41 And sometimes I accidentally do Hagrid when it's other characters speaking.

7:47 I'm not you.

7:48 Let's put it that way.

7:50 I like that.

7:50 You do all of the characters.

7:52 I'm just trying to Yes,

7:54 imagine Snape as, you know, going That's more like Hagrid.

8:01 I do Hagrid.

8:04 It's a good Hagrid.

8:06 It's better than my Hagrid.

8:08 Do you pick up when people are you're speaking to people and they

8:11 have an interesting way of talking or an accent or something like that?

8:14 Do you tuck it away?

8:16 Yeah, my kids do have made fun of me

8:19 over the years because back in the days when,

8:23 you know, you could talk to an operator

8:25 on the phone for some reason you're calling somewhere.

8:29 I would I if somebody had an accent,

8:31 I would start to speak like them, like this, you know, a little bit weird.

8:37 Yeah, they And they didn't like it.

8:39 No.

8:39 Yeah, yeah.

8:41 I mean, I don't know if the people Yeah,

8:43 probably the people didn't like it, but the kids didn't like it.

8:46 the people didn't notice and the kids didn't like it.

8:49 There's something about your mom answering

8:50 the phone that is bothersome for whatever reason.

8:54 I don't know what it is,

8:55 but it's like all of a sudden she's friendly and you're like,

8:58 "WHO IS THIS?" THAT'S REALLY TRUE.

9:02 YEAH, RIGHT.

9:03 YEAH, because yeah, usually I'm kind of stop it.

9:08 You know.

9:09 What are you What are you doing?

9:11 Well, we're going to take a break and see

9:12 a clip from the new movie The Devil Wears Prada 2.

9:15 Meryl Streep is here with us.

9:17 We'll be The fashion was dull, and listless.

9:20 I wouldn't say that was um the goal.

9:23 And the models were encouraged to mill around like starving goats

9:28 in the parking lot of a methadone clinic in New Jersey.

9:33 What?

9:34 Can't say.

9:35 What am I not allowed to say?

9:36 Methadone?

9:37 No.

9:37 New Jersey?

9:40 Anyway, this was our first time using this photographer, so we can do a reshoot.

9:44 Just, you know, fix it.

9:46 And there is Meryl Streep and The Devil Wears Prada 2,

9:49 which opens in theaters tomorrow.

9:52 Do you get the sense or you've been in a lot of movies,

9:56 do you sense how much excitement there is for this one?

10:00 Wow, I I Yeah, I have I was not aware.

10:02 No, I'm not on No, I'm not on Instagram or TikTok or any anything, really.

10:09 All I do is read the news, you know.

10:11 How do you know if the president attacks you if you're not Well, that I know.

10:16 You're not paying attention to social media.

10:17 I'm paying to the news.

10:18 Yeah, no, but so I wasn't aware, but when we we started the press tour,

10:23 I've just really come around the world and we went to Mexico City,

10:28 New York, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, back to New York,

10:33 London, back here, and this is it.

10:36 This is it?

10:38 Yeah, this is it.

10:38 Yeah.

10:39 And everywhere we went, it was just like this anticipation, affection,

10:48 I mean, appetite for this movie, which I wasn't aware of.

10:52 I mean, I knew it was a popular movie 20 years ago,

10:57 but I had no idea that there was this sort of big, big, big feel for it.

11:03 There is people Well,

11:03 people love the first movie so much and it's and not just the first time,

11:07 but over and over and over again.

11:09 Yeah.

11:09 People watch it and then there's a lot of pressure to deliver,

11:12 you know, to make sure this one's is good, right?

11:16 Yes, there is.

11:19 This is Yeah, I'm sorry to bring it up,

11:23 but I'm glad we didn't it didn't happen at the beginning of your press tour.

11:26 The I heard you recruited Lady Gaga to be in the film.

11:30 Oh, yeah, yeah.

11:31 That turned out well.

11:32 Did somebody ask you to call her and ask her to be in the movie?

11:35 Well, they they wanted there was a it was written that there would be

11:39 a pop star that would sing live at a on the runway in Milan.

11:44 We were going to have this big um big show there and I thought,

11:49 well, why don't we get Gaga?

11:50 Cuz she's so great.

11:52 And she loves fashion and I HAD HER NUMBER.

12:01 AND YOU GAVE HER A RING?

12:03 I GAVE HER A RING.

12:05 And I love this girl.

12:06 I love the her so much.

12:07 She is so game.

12:09 She just said, "Yeah." I said, "Well,

12:12 I haven't asked you what I'm going to ask you." She said, "Yeah, anything.

12:15 What do you want?" Does anybody ever reject you?

12:19 Does this ever happen to you besides obviously your kids?

12:22 Uh It has happened.

12:25 Yes.

12:26 Yeah.

12:27 But no, this was this was a big a big get for us.

12:31 We were really really thrilled cuz she's spectacular.

12:34 She's written three songs for great.

12:36 And she's a great actor, too.

12:37 she's great actor great actress little too good in the scene I had with her.

12:42 Um But she was fantastic and I just got to watch her um you know,

12:49 she was on a world tour.

12:50 I think it was a year-long world tour and she just came in flew

12:54 in just on the day and set up and did this numerous times.

13:00 You'll see it's a big big set that where

13:03 she sings and uh she did it differently every time.

13:06 Elaborate costumes.

13:07 She kept throwing out the dresses saying, "I don't like this." You know,

13:10 and and um she finally found the thing that worked and you could see it work.

13:16 You could see it work in the No.

13:19 No, she wore a pin stripe suit.

13:23 And she had you know, she just tore us up.

13:25 It was great.

13:26 about running for president because you would be a good PRESIDENT I THINK.

13:35 EVERYBODY WOULD LIKE YOU.

13:36 YOU YOU COULD TALK TO THE leaders

13:38 of other countries and imitate them back to themselves.

13:43 Oh god.

13:45 You know, you're making my glasses fog up.

13:47 That's okay.

13:49 It's great to see you.

13:51 We look forward to the film.

13:52 It's called The Devil Wears Prada 2.

13:54 It opens in theaters tomorrow.

13:55 Meryl Streep, everybody.

13:57 We'll be back with Desi Lydic.