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Seeing a child-free Andy Sachs on the big screen felt like a sigh of relief

Published 17:28 6 May 2026 BST

Updated 17:50 6 May 2026 BST

Kat O'Connor

Seeing a child-free Andy Sachs on the big screen felt like a sigh of relief

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Andy Sachs is back on the big screen, and she's the leading lady we all need

The Devil Wears Prada has been one of my favourite movies since I first watched it and fell completely in love with the world of Andy Sachs and Runway. Andy influenced me to become a journalist, and along with Marianne from Normal People, is the reason behind my full fringe.

She has been a comfort character for decades, and The Devil Wears Prada has been a crutch for those days when life feels a little bit too much. It has been my favourite movie to watch when I'm upset, when I need some inspiration, or when I just want to switch off from my own world for a while.

Watching the sequel on the big screen felt weirdly comforting; despite the heartbreaking realities of the journalism industry portrayed throughout the film, it felt reassuring to see Andy Sachs on screen again.

20 years have passed since The Devil Wears Prada first aired, and many fans have gone through big milestones that society often expects of us - buy a house, get married, have babies. It's an expectation placed on fictional characters, too, with many women on screen ticking these boxes as series go on and as movies air, but not Andy Sachs, and it was a massive relief to see a child-free woman on screen.

Seeing Andy living a happy life without needing any of these milestones was a huge reassurance because we never see this type of woman on screen enough, not without the tears, worries, and self-doubt. Andy, despite having just lost her job, is her bright and ambitious self; she is loved, and before her move to Runway, had a successful career in one of the most unpredictable industries on the planet. She lives alone but isn't painted as a tragic spinster; she doesn't have children but isn't painted as a barren failure. She's following her own path, and it's a total breath of fresh air after years of leading ladies following the same storyline: find a man (Tom Hanks, Jude Law, Colin Farrell) and fall in love.

There's so much more to Andy than procreating and falling in love, and it is more obvious than ever in the sequel. She returns to Runway full of purpose and determination, and a deep desire to mend the magazine's reputation. She's ambitious and caring and is full of an infectious passion and you can't help but be comforted when she first appears on screen.

As someone who hasn't yet had children and can't help but worry about the biological clock of it all, seeing a child-free Andy Sachs on screen was the weird reassurance I needed to remember that time isn't running out. We're all just walking down different paths and hoping they lead us to a life that at least makes us content, and a world in which Stanley Tucci says 'forever my girl' to us.

Andy Sachs is a features editor, a mentor, an award-winning journalist, and a friend, but most importantly, she's happy and successful without the house with a white picket fence and 2.5 kids.

In The Devil Wears Prada 2, Andy Sachs isn't less than because she isn't married with children, and she's the leading lady we've wanted all along.