‘It was considered normal’
Anne Hathaway has revealed she was made to kiss “10 guys” as part of a “gross” audition for a part.
In a new interview with V Magazine, the Oscar winner was talking ahead of the release of her upcoming movie ‘The Idea of You’ when the topic of chemistry tests came up.
A chemistry test is used in auditions to see whether two actors have – yes, you guessed it – chemistry.
During the interview, Hathaway spoke about how these tests have come a long way since she was auditioning for parts in the 2000s.
She explained: “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 10 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.”
“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 continued: “I was so young and terribly aware how easy it was to lose everything by being labelled ‘difficult,’ so I just pretended I was excited and got on with it.
Along with starring in ‘The Idea of You’, Hathaway is also a producer on the film. She therefore had a direct influence over how her co-star was cast.
Based on the novel by Robinne Lee, the film stars Hathaway as a 40-year-old single mum who falls in love with the frontman of the world’s hottest boy band.
Talking about how the chemistry reads for the film were carried out, Hathaway said: “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.”
In the end, the part went to Nicholas Galitzine after he chose an Alabama Shakes song to dance to.
Hathaway said she thought Galitizine was “so ridiculously perfect” for the role as soon as he walked in the room.
“And it was just easy,” she added.
“I heard Brittany [Howard]’s voice and I just started smiling. And 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.
“I looked over and Michael Showalter, our director, was beaming. Spark!”
‘The Idea of You’ will be available to stream on Prime Video in the UK and Ireland from May 2.
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