Adrian Grenier Finally Reacts to Being Called the Villain in 'Devil Wears Prada'

While celebrating the 15th anniversary of The Devil Wears Prada, Adrian Grenier spoke out in response to fans calling his character Nate the “real villain” of the filmn.

The 44-year-old actor says that he didn’t understand the criticism at first, but he now agrees with fans.

Click inside to find out what he said…

“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,” Adrian told EW.

One of the biggest criticisms of Nate was how he gave Anne Hathaway‘s Andy a lot of flak when she missed his birthday party because of a work event.

He continued, “All those memes that came out were shocking to me. It hadn’t occurred to me until I started to really think about it, and perhaps it was because I was as immature as Nate was at the time, and 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. At the end of the day, it’s just a birthday, right? It’s not the end of the world. I might’ve been as immature as him at the time, so I personally couldn’t see his shortcomings. But after time to reflect and much deliberation, I’ve come to realize the truth in that perspective.”

“Nate was pouty on his birthday because his girlfriend wasn’t there! In hindsight, I’m sure he wishes he made a different choice, but who doesn’t? We’ve all been brats at different points. We all just need to live, let live, do better!” he said.

Adrian talked about the type of guy Andy really needed.

“[Andy] needed more out of the world than Nate, and she was achieving it. He couldn’t support her like she needed to because he was a fragile, wounded boy. There’s a selfishness and self-centeredness in that, and I think Andy needed to be held by a man who was an adult,” he said. “He couldn’t support her like she needed because he was a fragile, wounded boy…. on behalf of all the Nates out there: Come on! Step it up!”

Adrian recently talked about why he decided to move to Texas.