Anne Hathway Once Kissed 10 Men During a ‘Gross’ Audition
In the decade between 2001 and 2011, Anne Hathaway was booked and busy, giving memorable performances in The Princess Diaries, Ella Enchanted, The Devil Wears Prada, Becoming Jane, Bride Wars, and many more movies. In a new interview for V magazine, Hathaway revealed that the casting process wasn’t always easy or appropriate, citing an occasion when she was asked to kiss nearly a dozen men for a “chemistry test.”
“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,” Hathaway said. “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.”
Worried about being labeled “difficult,” Hathaway said she was happy to do it. “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.” She didn’t specify what role the audition was for, but said that now, as a producer, she approaches chemistry testing differently. For her most recent film, The Idea of You, she and other producers asked actors to choose a song “that they would put on to get my character to dance, and then we’d do a short little improv.”
Her co-star, Nicholas Galitzine, chose a song by Alabama Shakes. Hathaway said she smiled as soon as she heard it. “He saw me smile, so he relaxed, and we just started dancing. Nobody was showing off. Nobody was trying to get the gig. We were just in a space dancing.” She added: “I looked over and Michael Showalter, our director, was beaming. Spark!”
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