Balfe had moved from her native Ireland to New York City for modeling, but she always had her eye on the acting world. Fate intervened when the Devil Wears Prada production teamcame looking for models to appear in the movie. “I think they just came to modeling agencies and were like, ‘We need a bunch of women who can walk in heels,’” Balfe recalled on the podcast. “My agency knew I wanted to act and if people would come looking for stuff, they were sending me out to a few auditions. I obviously wasn’t very good because I didn’t get any of them. But yeah, I got booked, for some reason they called them ‘the clackers,’ which I guess is [the sound of] the heels on the ground. I was basically a glorified extra—I was a ‘clacker,’ there you go!” Before you go looking for Balfe in the movie, take note that you won’t actually see her—well, at least not her face. “I remember the first day, it was one of the scenes where I think Meryl Streep is crossing in front of the building and her entrance going into the Vogue/Condé Nast building,” Balfe said. After waiting around all day, “when we finally got called, it was literally to walk in front of a camera that was down on the ground, by the way. So it was literally just our feet.” Her first impression of working on a movie? Not exactly a good one. “Just the length of time it was taking to do this one scene," Balfe said of the tedious process. “We were stuck in a honeywagon [an on-set trailer], me and my two or three other friends that I was there on the job with, all day just waiting in this honeywagon. I was like, ‘This blows. This is terrible.’” When only her feet appeared in the shot after all that waiting, it was the last straw; she quit! “I’m ashamed to say, I didn’t go back the next day,” Balfe admitted. But it was a learning experience for the young actress. “I hadn’t been on a film set," she explained. “I think I’d seen a set when I was in my youth, when I remember being around a film that was filming in our town. But I hadn’t really been around a film set.” The Devil Wears Prada, based on the 2003 roman à clef by Lauren Weisberger about Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, follows an unfashionable assistant (Anne Hathaway) at fictional fashion magazine Runway. Had Balfe stayed to continue working on the movie, she might have had more screen time—and maybe even a chance to chat up Streep. “I saw Meryl, but we weren’t hanging [on set]. I don’t think we were allowed to get too close,” she told USA Today last November. But, Balfe did get to see the revered actress at work. “It was very fun seeing the amazing Meryl do her thing,” she tweeted back in 2016. After that day on Devil Wears Prada, Balfe continued to have very small film roles, including in the JJ Abrams movie Super 8, until auditioning for the part of Outlander’s Claire in 2012—and the rest is history. Fast-forward to today and things have come full circle, as this year Balfe finds herself in the running against Streep for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards. Balfe is up for her ensemble work in Belfast (she also got an individual SAG nod for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role) and Streep for her part in the Netflix hit Don’t Look Up. Hopefully, we’ll see them both at the ceremony when it airs live on Sunday, Feb. 27 on TNT and TBS. In the meantime, catch Balfe in the sixth season premiere of Outlander on March 6 on Starz. The Devil Wears Prada is also available to stream on Starz, if you want to look out for Balfe’s feet! Next, Caitriona Balfe’s also a new mom! Find out about her sweet bundle of joy—and how Outlander co-star Sam Heughan congratulated her.
