Anne Hathaway has done a gamut of different roles across genres in her career thus far. The Oscar winner who is widely considered to be one of the most talented stars of her generation, has also proved her versatility as an accomplished singer. Her Oscar-winning role as Fantine in Les Misérables is a perfect case in point.
Hathaway is all set to make audiences swoon in her upcoming romantic comedy The Idea Of You which is set to release in May. In addition to starring in the film, the celebrity is also one of the producers of the project. The Interstellar star recalled a time when she was subjected to embarrassing chemistry tests with potential co-stars, and revealed why she was adamant to change these methods as a producer.
Anne Hathway Still Cringes At What She Was Asked To Do During An Audition
Films that involve intimate romance between two characters naturally require the actors in question to have a certain comfort level with each other to portray these emotions seamlessly on screen. For this reason, chemistry tests are commonly conducted to see the compatibility of the stars before signing them on.
Anne Hathaway addressed this process in Hollywood and revealed an incident from her experience when she was subjected to a rather embarrassing time while doing a chemistry test for a film. The Oscar winner elaborated on what went down in an exclusive interview with V Magazine and why she felt that there were huge problems with this type of audition.
“Back in the 2000s—and this did happen to me—it was considered normal to ask an actor to make out with other actors to test for chemistry. Which is actually the worst way to do it. I was told, ‘We have ten guys coming today and you’re cast. Aren’t you excited to make out with all of them?’ And I thought, ‘Is there something wrong with me?’ because I wasn’t excited. I thought it sounded gross.”
Being a young actor starting out, Hathaway went ahead with what was required of her as she did not want to be branded as a difficult star. While she admitted that at no time was she coerced or manipulated into doing the test, she believed that there were definitely better ways to achieve this goal.
Therefore, as a producer on her latest film The Idea Of You, The Devil Wears Prada actor was adamant to change these aspects. While looking for the perfect actor to play the lead singer in the boy band who her character falls for, Hathaway spoke to V Magazine about the unique creative process that was adopted which ultimately led her to casting Nicholas Galitzine.
“We asked each of the actors coming in to choose a song that they felt their character would love, that they would put on to get my character to dance, and then we’d do a short little improv. I was sitting in a chair like we had come in from dinner or a walk or something, we pressed play, and we just started dancing together.”
The celebrity believed that this organic way of discovering chemistry worked wonders, and was confident that the results of this process are clearly evident in the film judging from the connection between her and Galitzine.
Anne Hathaway Lived Personal Trauma On Stage Everyday With Grounded
While Anne Hathaway still cringes at what she was made to do by way of chemistry tests, the actor experienced a different kind of trauma many years later on stage. In 2015, she produced and starred in a one-woman show named Grounded which followed the story of a female fighter pilot whose career is brought to a halt by pregnancy.
Coincidentally, the star was carrying a child in real life at the time of the show. Hathaway though, had to unfortunately endure a traumatic experience because of this. During the 6 week run of Grounded, the Oscar winner ended up having a miscarriage. But as it is often said, the show must go on, and Hathaway continued to power through despite being in a fragile emotional state.
To add to her woes, her stage character who was a pregnant woman, served as a constant reminder of the excruciating loss she had faced. Speaking to Vanity Fair, The Intern star recalled the dark period and how she struggled to navigate her emotions night after night on stage. She also addressed why she chose to reveal her second pregnancy announcement in a realistic manner.
“Given the pain I felt while trying to get pregnant, it would’ve felt disingenuous to post something all the way happy when I know the story is much more nuanced than that for everyone. The first time it didn’t work out for me. I was doing a play and I had to give birth onstage every night It was too much to keep it in.”
Hathaway was grateful for her friends and family to whom she confided about her miscarriage, and believed that their support on a daily basis helped her get over the tragedy of losing her child.
The Idea Of You releases on Amazon Prime on May 2nd, 2024.
