Adrian Grenier Admits He's 'Disappointed' by “Devil Wears Prada 2” Snub, Still Hopes for Nate 'Spinoff' (Exclusive)

Marissa G. MullerSat, March 14, 2026 at 7:35 PM UTC

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Adrian Grenier in 2026Credit: Jerod Harris/Getty -

Adrian Grenier tells PEOPLE exclusively he's "disappointed" his character Nate doesn't make an appearance in The Devil Wears Prada 2

Grenier thinks there's still more to explore with Nate, telling PEOPLE, "I'd like to see what his character does beyond, as a spinoff movie"

Grenier’s new film Self Custody, which costars Odette Annable, Henry Cejudo, and director Garrett Patten, is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Tubi and Plex

Adrian Grenier has a theory about who the devil in The Devil Wears Prada isn’t.

Despite the backlash his character Nate has received over the years, with some fans claiming the aspiring chef is the movie's real villain, the actor is standing by his role in the 2006 comedy classic — and is “disappointed” he didn’t return for the upcoming sequel.

“I spoke to David Frankel, the director recently,” Grenier, 49, tells PEOPLE, while promoting his new project Self Custody, a thriller about a struggling dad’s attempt to recover a lost Bitcoin fortune from a cryptocurrency bonus he received years ago. “I was disappointed... But, you know, apparently, my character is a controversial character, so he might need his own spinoff.”

PEOPLE has reached out to Disney for comment.

Grenier thinks there’s more to explore with Nate, whose relationship with Andy (Anne Hathaway) spirals to an end after her demanding job at Runway causes her to miss Nate’s birthday dinner and he calls her “integrity” into question when she is chosen to go to Paris with Miranda instead of Emily. “I can understand the sentiment,” Grenier says, of the thinking that Nate is the film’s villain, before joking, “But I have to stand [up] for my character. If Nate is actually the devil in The Devil Wears Prada, I'd like to see what his character does beyond, as a spinoff movie.”

Adrian Grenier in 'The Devil Wears Prada'Credit: Barry Wetcher/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock

For the Entourage and Drive Me Crazy star, Nate’s actions are justified. “I think it depends on if you care about birthdays,” Grenier explains. “I personally don't look to a birthday as a big, meaningful thing — but agreements, I do. If someone makes a commitment, I do take it seriously that the commitment gets upheld. So it's not so much about the birthday per se.”

If anything, Grenier thinks Nate should have been less “meek and weak” with Andy. “One thing that I will say is, I did think that his reaction felt a little bit meek and weak, which was not attractive,” Grenier says, “and perhaps was not attractive to her, that he was wounded by her missing his birthday, as opposed to being clear about his expectations and his boundaries.”

Better communication between the couple would have helped, Grenier says. “I think clarity and strength and standing up for himself as opposed to feeling sorry for himself,” he explains. “So he had some growing up to do, I suppose, and manning up, so to speak.”

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As for Hathaway, she shared her opinion on the ill-fated couple’s relationship in 2022, telling a fan and Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live, “No, I'm sorry, I don't,” when asked if Nate was the villain. “I think that they were both very young, and figuring things out."

The actress, who returns to star in The Devil Wears Prada 2, maintains, "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 that's what we all do. And I wouldn't want to be defined by my worst moment in my 20s, certainly, so I don't hold Nate as a villain, actually."

Anne Hathaway and Adrian Grenier in 'The Devil Wears Prada'Credit: Alamy

Grenier previously opened up about fans' views on Nate, telling Entertainment Weekly in 2021, “After time to reflect and much deliberation, I've come to realize the truth in that perspective.”

"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," Grenier said at the time, adding, "All those memes that came out were shocking to me. It hadn't occurred to me until I started to really think about it ... in many ways, he's very selfish and self-involved, it was all about him; he wasn't extending himself to support Andy in her career."

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Before The Devil Wears Prada 2 hits theaters May 1, the film will have a fashionable surprise moment at this year’s Oscars on Sunday, March 15, according to sources.

Grenier’s new film Self Custody, which costars Odette Annable, Henry Cejudo, and director Garrett Patten, is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Tubi and Plex.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”