Teri Hatcher is preparing for a major new chapter in her career, with the former Desperate Housewives star set to take over the role of Miranda Priestly in the London production of The Devil Wears Prada.
As first reported exclusively by HELLO!, Hatcher will replace Vanessa Williams as the formidable fashion editor in the hit West End musical next month. The move will see the 61-year-old actress relocate from Los Angeles to London, where she will step into one of the production’s most prominent roles at the Dominion Theatre.
For Hatcher, however, the opportunity represents more than another acting job. Speaking to HELLO! during an exclusive photoshoot in Paris, she described the role as an opportunity to enter a different stage of her life and bring the perspective she has gained over the years to Miranda Priestly.
“I’ve experienced and grown so much, and I get to bring all of that into my Devil Wears Prada performance,” Hatcher told HELLO!. “I feel like this is a gift for me, to arrive into a Teri Hatcher that I haven’t got to be yet, and I’m so excited for it.”
That sense of timing appears central to Hatcher’s decision to accept the part. Although Miranda is an established character with a distinctive personality and history in the Devil Wears Prada universe, Hatcher sees the opportunity to interpret the role through her own experience rather than simply attempting to reproduce an earlier performance.
“You just know when you read the right script. It speaks to you like it’s yours and then it might meander around the universe, might take a little bit of time to make it happen for you, but you know it when you see it,” she said.
“And I feel that way about Miranda. I think this is the right time in my life for me to bring the right qualities of my experience and my talent and my being to this show.”
From Los Angeles to London’s West End
Hatcher’s arrival marks another high-profile change for The Devil Wears Prada on the West End stage. Williams, who previously appeared alongside Hatcher during seasons seven and eight of Desperate Housewives, has been playing Miranda Priestly in the London production.
The connection between the two actresses has made the transition particularly personal.
Rather than approaching the role without guidance from the actor who has been playing Miranda, Hatcher has been in communication with Williams as she prepares to make the character her own. According to Hatcher, Williams has been exceptionally encouraging about the casting.
“I obviously go way back with Vanessa, so she and I have communicated about it, and she’s been unbelievably supportive,” Hatcher told HELLO!
Williams also reportedly offered her support to the show’s producers, telling them, “You’ll love her, she’s great, she works so hard,” according to Hatcher.
The two actresses’ previous professional history adds another layer to the handover. Their time together on Desperate Housewives means Hatcher is not entering the production without an existing relationship with the actress whose performance she will follow.
Williams has also offered practical help as Hatcher prepares to establish herself in London, telling her she will help point her toward places to get things done in the city.
For Hatcher, that support provides a useful bridge between her life in Los Angeles and the demands of taking on a West End production.
Her daughter helped convince her
One of the people most influential in Hatcher’s decision was her daughter, Emerson, 28.
Hatcher has not yet seen the London production herself, but Emerson has. After watching Williams perform at the Dominion Theatre, she encouraged her mother to accept the opportunity when it arose.
“She saw Vanessa in it and said it was great, so when the opportunity came my way she was the first person to say: ‘Oh my god, you have to do it, you’re going to have so much fun,’” Hatcher recalled.
The detail offers a glimpse into the personal circumstances surrounding Hatcher’s move to London. The decision is not simply a professional relocation; it is also part of a period in which she says she is eager to explore a version of herself she has not previously had the opportunity to inhabit.
That outlook is especially notable given the scale of the role. Miranda Priestly is not merely a supporting figure in The Devil Wears Prada. She is the intimidating center of the story’s fashion-world hierarchy, a character whose authority and famously sharp demeanor shape the experiences of those around her.
A character with a powerful legacy
The role comes with considerable expectations because Miranda Priestly has already become one of the best-known characters associated with The Devil Wears Prada.
The original 2006 film starred Meryl Streep as Miranda, with Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci among the principal cast. Streep’s portrayal helped establish Miranda’s particular combination of authority, restraint and cutting wit as one of the film’s defining elements.
Hatcher is a self-described “huge fan” of the original movie and of its hit sequel released this year, which brought Streep, Hathaway, Blunt and Tucci back to their respective roles and received widespread acclaim, according to HELLO!
Her familiarity with the franchise therefore predates her arrival in the stage production. But the musical also gives her the opportunity to approach Miranda in a different medium, with the demands of live theatre requiring a performance designed for an audience experiencing the story in real time.
That distinction is important for Hatcher’s interpretation. She is not stepping into a vacuum, nor is she following only one version of Miranda. The character exists across the original film, its sequel and the stage musical, while each performer brings a different perspective to the role.
Hatcher’s comments suggest she intends to treat the part as her own rather than regard herself as a replacement whose task is to recreate Williams’ performance.
Williams herself has encouraged that approach, with Hatcher saying she has been urged to “make it my own and have a great time.”
Preparing for Miranda
Hatcher has already begun preparing for the production and has reached out to people connected with the London show.
In addition to communicating with Williams, she has been in touch with Matt Henry, who plays Miranda’s colleague Nigel in the musical. Those conversations form part of her preparation as she gets ready to join an established company.
The timing also gives Hatcher an opportunity to understand the production from inside the world of the musical before she makes her West End debut in the role.
Her comments indicate that preparation is not limited to learning lines or becoming familiar with the stage version. She is also considering how her own accumulated experience will influence the way she presents Miranda.
“I think this is the right time in my life for me to bring the right qualities of my experience and my talent and my being to this show,” she told HELLO!
That perspective could become one of the defining features of her interpretation. Miranda Priestly is already a character audiences know well, but Hatcher is approaching her at a different point in her own career and life.
A new phase for Teri Hatcher
For audiences who know Hatcher primarily from television, the West End engagement represents a substantial new setting for an actress whose career has included some of American television’s most recognizable roles.
Her move to London also represents a temporary change in environment and working rhythm. Instead of remaining based in Los Angeles, she will now be living in the British capital while taking on the demands of a major musical theatre production.
Hatcher’s own description of the experience makes clear that she sees that disruption as part of the appeal.
“This is a gift for me,” she said, describing the opportunity as a chance to “arrive into a Teri Hatcher that I haven’t got to be yet.”
That statement frames her West End debut less as a straightforward career progression and more as an opportunity for reinvention.
It also gives the casting a broader significance within the production itself. As The Devil Wears Prada continues its life beyond the original film, the arrival of another established screen actress in the role demonstrates the continuing appeal of Miranda Priestly as a character capable of being reinterpreted for a new audience and a new performer.
For Hatcher, the appeal appears to be precisely that challenge.
She has the familiarity of a beloved franchise, the support of the actress she is succeeding, encouragement from her daughter and an established musical production waiting for her in London. What remains is the moment when she finally takes the stage as Miranda.
And while she has yet to see the London production herself, she already seems convinced that the role has arrived at exactly the right moment.
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Source: Owink
