The Devil Wears Prada actress Anne Hathaway reflects on the gross requests she received for roles when she started her career. She’s now both a producer and the lead in the new romance film The Idea of You, where she portrays a woman who falls in love with a much younger boy-band pop star, played by Nicholas Galitzine.
In a V Magazine interview, Hathaway, 41, remembered the chemistry tests she underwent with her co-stars when she was starting her Hollywood career.
“In the 2000s, and this happened to me, it was common to ask actors to kiss each other to check for chemistry, which is the worst way to do it,” she explained.
Hathaway added, “They told me, We have 10 guys coming today, and you’re cast. Aren’t you excited to kiss all of them? I wasn’t excited, and I wondered if something was wrong with me because it sounded gross.”
Anne Hathaway on navigating early career pressures
Anne Hathaway said she was young and very conscious of how being labeled as difficult could lead to losing everything.
“So,” she continued, “I simply acted excited and moved forward. It wasn’t about asserting power; nobody intended to be mean or harm me. It was a different era, and now we have more awareness.”
Anne Hathaway rose to fame with the 2001 Disney movie The Princess Diaries. Following that, she starred in successful films like Ella Enchanted (2004), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Love & Other Drugs (2010), and others. Her performance in the 2012 musical Les Misérables earned her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Anne Hathaway reveals career doubts at 35
In November 2023, Hathaway shared in an interview with PORTER that she was once told her career wouldn’t last past age 35.
“When I began as a child actor, I was cautioned that my career might decline sharply by age 35, a challenge many women encounter,” she mentioned. “What’s changed since then is that more women are sustaining careers well into later stages of life, which I find wonderful.”
“Of course, it’s not a reason to throw a big party,” she said. “Someone told me recently that there’s a lot to be proud of but also a lot to work on.”
ALSO READ: ‘It Wasn’t For Me’: Anne Hathaway Reveals Why She Decided To Give Up On Alcohol
Anne Hathaway breaks silence on miscarriage stigma
After experiencing a miscarriage, Anne Hathaway was surprised by how common they are. She discovered that many of her friends had also gone through similar experiences. “I wondered, why isn’t this information more widely known? Why do we feel so alone?” she explained. “That’s where the harm happens. So, I decided to speak up about it.”
She also shared that what deeply affected her, astonished her, and inspired her: For three years afterward, nearly every day, a woman approached her in tears, and she would simply embrace her. The woman carried this pain alone, and suddenly, it wasn’t just hers anymore.
