Anne Hathaway just told the story of a “gross” audition she had towards the start of her career, and we’re definitely glad things have changed in Hollywood.
“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,” the Devil Wears Prada star told V Magazine in a new cover interview.
“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.”
Sadly, Anne knew about the pressure on young actresses to go along with things even if they felt uncomfortable.
“I was so young and terribly aware how easy it was to lose everything by being labeled ‘difficult,’ so I just pretended I was excited and got on with it,” she continued. “It wasn’t a power play, no one was trying to be awful or hurt me. It was just a very different time and now we know better.”
Now that Anne has an illustrious career under her belt, she’s stepped into a producer role on her new film The Idea of You, and she was able to decide how things work when it came to testing actors’ chemistry with each other. (She stars as the romance film’s lead across 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,” Anne explained. “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.”
She shared that when Nicholas played the band The Alabama Shakes, she started smiling and the atmosphere was immediately relaxed and playful. She knew he was right for the role.
The Idea of You is out on 2 May in the UK.
I completely agree with your perspective on this topic It’s refreshing to see someone presenting a balanced and thoughtful viewpoint