Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour, a.k.a. the Woman Who Miranda Priestly Was Based On, Are Actually Related
Meryl Streep's connection to Anna Wintour apparently runs much deeper than just having played a character inspired by the high fashion editor — as it turns out, the two are actually related!
According to research conducted by MyHeritage, the legendary actress and Vogue Editor in Chief are eighth cousins.
The two women are related through their ancestors on their maternal side. William Wilberfoss Smith Jr., who was born in 1669, was both Streep and Wintour's 7th great grandfather. He was married to Agnes Mary Crosdale, who was also born the same year. She was born in Yorkshire, England, and immigrated to America. She ended up settling in Pennsylvania, where they met.
It's certainly ironic Streep and Wintour are connected by blood: Streep's iconic performance as high maintenance, fictional high fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly in 2006's The Devil Wears Prada has long been rumored to have been based on Wintour.
In real life, the pair met back in 2017 at the Vogue offices when Streep was their November cover star. When asked what the most difficult role she had played up until that point, Streep responded, "Oh, I should say..." before the Vogue icon jokingly cut her off and said, "No, no! We're not going there!"
The Devil Wears Prada was based on the 2003 novel of the same name by author Lauren Weisberger. In real life, Weisberger moved to Manhattan after college and was Wintour's assistant for 11 months before she quit. The book, which is said to be "loosely" based on Weisberger's experiences working at Vogue, spent six months on the New York Times best-seller list.