Nearly 20 years after The Devil Wears Prada cemented itself as a cultural touchstone, Tracie Thoms is stepping back into the Elias Clarke universe for the long awaited sequel. She reprises her role as Lily alongside Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci and she says slipping back into that world felt surprisingly natural. The on-screen reunion with Hathaway, she explains, felt like no time had passed at all.
The actress opens up about trading sacrifice for joy, the skincare treatments she swears by and what beauty means to her two decades on. But time has, in fact, passed and Thoms wouldn’t have it any other way. The Juilliard trained actress, best known to current audiences as Dr. Karen Wilson on ABC’s 911, also recently wrapped an A24 film directed by Chris Rock. She is, by every measure, a woman who has hit her stride. And her approach to beauty reflects exactly that.
From sacrifice to self care: a beauty evolution 20 years in the making
Where beauty once demanded a kind of quiet suffering uncomfortable clothing, restricted eating, a relentless pursuit of the sample size Thoms has since rewritten those terms entirely. The version of herself that returns to the Prada universe is one who has swapped deprivation for quality of life, and rigid beauty standards for something far more personal: joy.
That shift wasn’t just philosophical. In preparation for filming, Thoms made deliberate choices to show up for her skin. She visited dermatologist Dr. Tess Mauricio at M Beauty Clinic in San Diego for a Sofwave treatment, a non invasive skin tightening procedure that uses ultrasound technology. She also had her first buccal face massage with Joseph Carillo a technique that works the facial muscles from the inside to sculpt and lift. From there, she committed to a more consistent skincare regimen, with a particular focus on firming and tightening.
On set, the production’s hair and makeup department kept things running smoothly, stocked with eye patches, setting spray, primer, cleansing wipes and moisturizer. But Thoms held firm to at least one personal rule no matter how long the day ran: she never goes to bed without washing off her makeup. It is, she says, a non-negotiable that has stood the test of time.
Rest, play and a hot tub: how she stays grounded
Between the demands of 9-1-1 a show that is as physically taxing as it is emotionally intense and the press cycle now ramping up ahead of the Prada sequel, Thoms has built her recovery rituals around simplicity. A hot tub at home has become her go-to after long shoot days, offering a quiet wind-down when the work is done. And where she once felt guilt about rest, she has since learned to welcome it, recognizing that true stillness is its own form of productivity.
Her broader definition of feeling beautiful has also grown well beyond the surface. She connects beauty to freedom the freedom to be the version of herself that is playful, authentic and fully seen. Game nights, movie nights, family dinners and personal retreats all feed that sense of self. In her view, the moment a person forgets how to play is the moment they start to age in ways no treatment can reverse.
What fans can expect from 9-1-1‘s season finale
As for the 9-1-1 season finale arriving in May, Thoms is keeping the details close but promises that fans of the show know better than to expect a quiet ending. The 118 family, she hints, will once again be tested before they find their way through together.
It is, in many ways, a fitting metaphor for Thoms herself, tested, resilient and showing up better than ever.
