“The Devil Wears Prada” Screenwriter Weighs in on All the Nate Hate
We can’t deny that the deleted Devil Wears Prada scene that recently resurfaced changed the way we view the beloved movie, but it’s hard to think of anything that could alter how we feel about Adrian Grenier’s character. Andy Sachs’ boyfriend, who gave her endless grief for prioritizing her career, was never likely to win over many fans, and he still inspires angry tweets more than a decade after the movie’s release.
“I think that now, however many years later, what people focus on is that he’s trying to restrict her ambition,” the film’s screenwriter, Aline Brosh McKenna, told Entertainment Weekly. We don’t disagree, but we also have to note that he takes cheap shots at Andy’s job, makes fun of her new interest in fashion, and is seemingly resentful about any kind of change she experiences.
I know everyone says this, but it should be repeated endlessly: Nate from "The Devil Wears Prada" is THE WORST BOYFRIEND EVER.
— Andrea Asuaje (@aasuaje) August 6, 2017
McKenna pointed to one of the most cringe-worthy scenes with Nate, when Andy is forced to miss his birthday party because she has to attend an important gala for work. “The part that makes me giggly when I read is him being upset about his birthday. It’s pretty whiny — but he does say later that it wasn’t what he was upset about,” she told EW.
goodnight to everyone except Nate from The Devil Wears Prada because he thought his birthday was more important than Andy's career pic.twitter.com/xQ49PHCah0
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) March 12, 2017
“That was a ‘girlfriend’ part, really,” she added. “That’s a part that a lot of women end up playing, the ‘why aren’t you home more,’ the naggy wife. I have to say, that character was the biggest challenge to write, and oddly, the character [director David Frankel] and I talked about the most, because we wanted to make sure he wasn’t a pain in the ass, but he is the person who is trying to say, ‘Is this who you want to be morally?'”
As other people have pointed out, though, Nate wasn’t the only one who failed to support Andy’s new career path. “The friends are not very supportive of her!” McKenna told Entertainment Weekly. “But I will say, I think a lot of young people, if you have the experience of being in a job that your friends kind of envy, sometimes they’re not great about it. And so, they take the Marc Jacobs purse, but they give her a lot of s**t.”
Maybe it’s time to rewatch The Devil Wears Prada to see if any of this perspective gives us a new take on Nate, or the movie as a whole.
What do you think about Nate from The Devil Wears Prada? Let us know @BritandCo!
(Photo via Evan Agostini/Getty)
