Anne Hathaway recalls “gross” audition in the 2000s: “Now we know better”
Actor Anne Hathaway has recalled the nature of chemistry tests between actors in the early 2000s compared to the ways they are conducted now, calling the earlier approach “gross” and “the worst way to do it”.
In a new interview, which sees Hathaway detail the chemistry test she experienced for her new movie The Idea of You with her co-star Nicholas Galitzine, the actor reflects on older versions of screen tests when directors would require her to “make out” with at least ten actors during the casting process.
The actor told V Magazine: “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.” She added: “Which is actually the worst way to do it.”
At the time, she recalls being told: “‘We have 10 guys coming today and you’re cast. Aren’t you excited to make out with all of them?’” To which she remembers feeling as though something was wrong with her, describing the situation as “gross” but she “pretended I was excited and got on with it”. However, Hathaway recalls she “was so young and terribly aware how easy it was to lose everything by being labelled ‘difficult’.”
She added that the process back then wasn’t exactly “a power play” and that “no one was trying to be awful or hurt me”, concluding that “it was just a very different time and now we know better.”
Kirsten Dunst also recently tapped into the concerning nature of earlier audition processes, sharing an incident earlier in her career where a director asked her an inappropriate question that saw her withdrawing from the process entirely. She said: “[I remember] sitting there and knowing that something was wrong, but with no idea what I should do.”
By contrast, The Idea of You followed a different process to that recalled by Hathaway, who explained that it required various actors to come in with a song they had chosen to play during an improvised romantic dance scene with Hathaway. Galitzine, Hathaway recalls, chose a song by Alabama Shakes, which made her smile and in-turn made her potential co-star relax immediately.
“Nobody was showing off. Nobody was trying to get the gig. We were just in a space dancing,” Hathaway shared. “I looked over and Michael Showalter, our director, was beaming. Spark!”
Galitzine also previously recalled his experience during the chemistry test for the movie, calling it “almost spiritual” as he “felt this immediate connection to Annie, and we had a simpatico and a shared sense of humour and it was just very easy.”
The Idea of You is scheduled for release on Prime Video on May 2nd, 2024. Watch the trailer below.
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