Anne Hathaway is an icon in her own right. From The Princess Diaries to Ella Enchanted, and of course, to The Devil Wears Prada, the 41-year-old actress quickly became a 2000s film star. However, casting back then wasn’t the way it is now, and Anne recalled one “gross” chemistry test where she had to “make out” with quite a few different actors.
“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,” Anne said during an interview with V Magazine, published on Monday, April 22. “I was told, ‘We have 10 guys coming today, and you’re cast. Aren’t you excited to make out with all of them?’”
She admitted thinking to herself, “‘Is there something wrong with me?’ because I wasn’t excited.” Anne then added, “I thought it sounded gross.”
Without naming which movie required the screen test, the Brokeback Mountain star explained that, at the time, she didn’t want to earn the diva label, as was common in those days.
“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,” Anne said before clarifying, “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.”
Anne is promoting her upcoming Prime Video film, The Idea of You. In addition to co-starring with Gen-Z rising heartthrob Nicholas Galitzine, the Academy Award winner serves as a producer on the romance movie. Anne plays Solène Marchand, a 40-year-old single mom who falls in love with 24-year-old boy band singer Hayes Campbell. The movie is based on the book with the same title by author Robinne Lee.
“It is this story about a single mother fully embracing her sexuality at a time in her life and a woman’s life where, traditionally, we begin to be erased,” Anne pointed out.
Instead of having her make out with several actors again, Anne noted that the auditions for the role of Hayes required the actors 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.”
Although the crew had met “a number of young men already” throughout the audition process, Anne knew that Nick, 29, was “ridiculously perfect for the part,” she added in her latest interview.