Why Sydney Sweeney's The Devil Wears Prada 2 Cameo Was Removed

"The Devil Wears Prada 2" is just around the corner nearly 20 years after the original hit theaters. It brings with it a great deal of star power, but at least one big star was left on the cutting room floor. 

The star in question is Sydney Sweeney, who broke out on HBO's "Euphoria" despite being told not to audition for it. She has since become one of Hollywood's most sought-after actresses. Despite her status in the industry, the filmmakers behind the forthcoming sequel opted to axe her from the final cut.

As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Sweeney filmed a scene that would have appeared near the film's opening. However, a "creative decision" was made to cut it out. Was that director David Frankel's call? Someone at Disney/20th Century Studios? It's unclear as it stands, but as of this writing, neither Disney nor Sweeney have weighed in on the matter.

Without getting into major spoilers, the scene would have taken at the Dior offices and featured Sweeney seeking Emily's (Emily Blunt) help. This scene has been glimpsed in the trailer for "The Devil Wears Prada 2." Here's how EW described the scene that Sweeney filmed:

Sweeney appeared in a scene that expanded upon Emily's introduction, and saw her at work dressing a celebrity client, with Sweeney playing herself in the reported three-minute scene.

So, why was it cut from the sequel? According to the report, "the scene did not work structurally with the rest of the sequence." EW added that "the team working on the movie was grateful for her participation, making the decision to remove the bit a difficult one."

"The Devil Wears Prada 2" reunites Miranda (Meryl Streep), Andy (Anne Hathaway), Emily (Emily Blunt), and Nigel (Stanley Tucci) in the fashionable streets of New York City and the sleek offices of Runway Magazine. Specific plot details have surprisingly been kept under wraps, but the trailers have let it be known that Andy will be returning to Runway in a larger role, while Miranda is still very much Miranda.

As for Sydney Sweeney, she's coming off of her biggest box office hit ever with "The Housemaid," with a sequel already underway at Lionsgate. That big hit followed a string of misfires that included movies like "Eden" and the boxing biopic "Christy." Even so, Sweeney's star power is undeniable, and even if it was just one scene, the benefit to both Sweeney and the movie itself seemed evident. Still, at the end of the day, the filmmakers felt the movie was better off without it.

This sort of thing happens all of the time, it's just not always with stars this big. Quentin Tarantino cut Tim Roth's scenes from "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," despite the two being frequent collaborators. Christopher Lee was cut out of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." It's just part of the nature of the beast that is Hollywood. Something can seem like a good idea during filming, but in the editing room, it might stand out in a bad way as the project starts to take shape. Such was the case here, it seems.

"The Devil Wears Prada 2" hits theaters on May 1, 2026.