Miranda Priestly? The villain of The Devil Wears Prada? Groundbreaking.
Seriously, bore someone else with that assumption. Because during a recent reunion with Entertainment Weekly, the cast addressed the Internet's belief that Nate (Adrian Grenier), the boyfriend to Anne Hathaway's character Andy, was the film's true evil character—and not Runway editor-in-chief Miranda (Meryl Streep)
"I have to admit I did not see some of the subtleties and the nuance of this character and what it represented in the film until the wisdom of the masses came online and started to push against the character," Grenier, whose character becomes increasingly frustrated as his girlfriend chooses to prioritize her career, told EW. "It hadn't occurred to me until I started to really think about it and perhaps it was because I was as immature as Nate was at the time."
Arguably immature and feeling threatened by Andy's success, "Nate had not grown up," he continued, "but Andy was. This was a coming of age for Andy, and she needed more out of life than Nate and she was achieving it."
Grenier admitted Nate couldn't support Andy "like she needed because he was a fragile, wounded boy" but had a call-to-action for any fragile significant other listening: "On behalf of all the Nates out there: Come on! Step it up!"
So, what did Hathaway think of Nate? "I don't think everybody's being completely honest with themselves about their own poutiness," she replied. "Nate was pouty on his birthday because his girlfriend wasn't there! In hindsight, I'm sure he wishes he made a different choice, but who doesn't? We've all been brats at different points. We all just need to live, let live, and do better!"