A good number of the best Romantic Comedies from the 2000’s on are more than likely to include Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway among the cast, and why wouldn’t they? From The Princess Diaries to The Devil Wears Prada, there are a ton of movies from those bygone days where Ms. Hathaway was a sparkling lead, ready to fall in love in the most entertaining way possible.
It wasn’t exactly a walk in the park getting such gigs though, as Anne has now revealed that a lot of those auditions involved the ‘gross’ process of having to make out with a bunch of dudes. The star of Prime Video’s upcoming rom-com The Idea of You said as much during an interview with V Magazine.
Though it was for the above board process of chemistry testing Hathaway alongside various leads that were in the running, her feelings are doubly valid about the matter. Here’s what Anne Hathaway had to say:
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. And 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.
If ever there was a practice looking to be done away with in the modern era of filmmaking, chemistry test makeouts is probably one of the highest on the list. And in the years since making movies like Love and Other Drugs, as well as her 2013 Oscar victory for Les Misérables, Anne Hathaway has undoubtedly scored the sort of clout a star of her stature deserves.
Which, as also mentioned in the report above, means that she’s been able to help affect that sort of change for the next generation of actors looking to get into that still lucrative genre. At the same time, Hathaway doesn’t reflect on this experience as any sort of malfeasance against her. Concluding her story on the matter, she was keen to include these caveats to clarify just where this tale was coming from:
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.
As seen in Anne Hathaway’s remarks on odd questions involving “working with female directors,” as well as this instance of calling out outdated casting practices, the actor has always stood up to something she doesn’t feel is right. While it goes without saying that these sorts of tactics certainly don’t fly in a COVID-friendly workplace, the more evolved attitude towards approaching romantic scenes on screen absolutely dovetails with pushing for just this sort of change.
And judging by The Idea of You trailer, it certainly hasn’t affected the performance of Anne Hathaway or her scene partner Nicholas Galitzine. Which only makes the impending debut of that picture all the more exciting, especially with the knowledge that Hathaway’s producing credit is another sign that her influence was truly felt in all the right aspects of this production.
You can next see Anne Hathaway in the streaming original adaptation of The Idea of You. That movie will be streaming exclusively for those with a Prime Video subscription, starting on May 2nd. Though you should keep your eyes on the 2024 movie schedule, as you never know what other surprises could be in store in the coming months.