The backstory of Rory McIlroy and his wife’s cameo in ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’

DUBLIN, Ohio – Rory McIlroy already owns golf’s grand slam. Now every 2nd ranked player in the world doesn’t have an Oscar. And you work on it.

McIlroy’s entry into the Hollywood star-making machine – he appeared in “Happy Gilmore 2” in 2025 – came six weeks ago when he starred in “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” a movie starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt, which grossed more than $600 million worldwide.

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McIlroy and his wife, Erica Stoll, appear on film – for about 10 seconds – attending a fashion gala.

It is said that professional athletes want to be movie stars and movie stars want to be professional actors. “Not this athlete,” McIlroy said during his press session at the 50th Memorial Tournament.

So how did the film gig come about?

“After I won The Players last year, in the press conference afterwards, someone asked … ‘What did you do to prepare last night or relax?’ I was looking at the [original] “The Devil Wears Prada.” And that’s back to the director, Dave Frankel, who has little connection to the game. His son played golf at Stanford.”

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Frankel’s people reached out to McIlroy’s people – that’s how the movie goes – and the ball started rolling.

“They said, ‘Look, we’re shooting in New York in the summer, if you want to be a part of it, do a cameo, whatever, we’d love to have you.’ I ran it over to Erica and she said, ‘We’re really doing that.’ To have that experience together was so much fun.”

After confirming that “Devil Wears Prada 2” is worthy of an Oscar, McIlroy, who comes from Northern Ireland, also confirmed that the Irish actor Colin Farrell does not have to worry about the golfer walking in his area.

“Not really,” he said.

McIlroy, 37, is seeking his first Memorial title in 13 trips to Muirfield Village Golf Club. His best finish was a tie for fourth in 2016.

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“I would say here and Tiger’s event in Riviera, they are the two that I would like to win,” he said. “I was lucky enough to win at Bay Hill, but not at Arnold’s time [Palmer] he was alive. So I always thought it would be nice to win here and take that little walk up the hill from the 18th green and shake Jack’s hand.

“Also, Jack and I have a great history. We’ve known each other now for almost 20 years – or I’ve known him for almost 20 years. He’s been great to me and my family. So, yeah, this is definitely what I’d like to do.”

What was the problem in Muirfield Village?

“Because it’s a long golf course, I feel like it takes the driver out of my hand a lot, which, you know, I pride myself on as being one of my biggest weapons,” he said. “The fairways are squeezing close to where I’m going to finish the driver. So I’m frustrated in a way that I feel like my biggest weapon is kind of gone here.”

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Sportswriter Rob Oller can be reached at roller@dispatch.com and X.com at @rollerCD.

This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: How Rory McIlroy, wife Erica made a cameo in ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’