Devil Wears Prada might be 16-years-old but the fan theories and speculation continue to grow each year. Although a lot of time has passed some die-hard fans still refuse to believe that Nate Cooper was a good guy. It has been a long-running theory within the fandom and nowAnne Hathaway has finally set the rumours straight.
In the romantic comedy Hathaway plays aspiring journalist Andy, with Adrian Grenier playing Andy's boyfriend Nate and Meryl Steep as her terrifying boss, Miranda Priestly. In the film, Andy and Nate break up after she struggles to balance Miranda’s work demands with her personal life.
Fans still believe the lack of support Nate gave Andy as she navigated her new career in the fashion industry, and that dramatic birthday scene showed he was the real villain. And in all honesty - we have to agree. Nate guilted Andy into quitting because he was insecure. She was excelling in her career and he wasn't happy for her. While Miranda Priestly's behaviour has also been criticised - as her boyfriend (who supposedly loved her) he should have been there to support her.
Anne recently appeared on an episode ofWatch What Happens Live said to host Andy Cohen that Nate's age played a part in his immature reactions. Anne explained, 'I think that they were both very young and figuring things out. He did behave like a brat, but I also behaved like a brat in my 20s, and I hopefully grew out of it. I think that's what we all do.'
We do see the validity in Anne's opinion, as your twenties really are a time of figuring yourself out - but some support from Nate would have been nice. Anne went on to say that she wouldn't want to be villainised for her worst moments in her twenties either, so she thinks Nate should be given that same grace. She concluded, 'I don’t hold Nate as a villain actually.'
Ironically Grenier actually admitted to Entertainment Weekly that he thought his character was indeed a villain, saying fans of the movie actually helped him come to this conclusion about Nate. He said, 'I didn't 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 and throw him under the bus, and I got flak.'
Adrian realised Nate was 'selfish' and 'self-involved.' 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, and in many ways he’s very selfish and self-involved,' Grenier said. He added,'It was all about him, he wasn’t extending himself to support Andy in her career.'
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