Anne Hathaway may make directors nervous before filming begins, but she insists there’s a method behind the madness. The Oscar winner recently shared that her tendency to question every detail of a script can sometimes leave filmmakers wondering what they’ve signed up for.
Speaking on The A24 Podcast alongside Mother Mary director David Lowery, Hathaway explained that her intense preparation process starts long before cameras begin rolling.
Directors have thoughts about Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway’s unconventional acting techniques
For Hathaway, preparation means turning over every stone she can find. “One of the things that I try to explain to directors who don’t know me is that I interrogate everything in prep,” she said on the podcast. “Like everything, even lines that I absolutely love, I just ask every single question.”
The actress admitted she examines scripts from every angle and looks for potential gaps or inconsistencies, even when she already likes what’s on the page. “I hold everything up to the light. I poke holes in everything,” Hathaway explained. “And I know for a fact it’s freaked some of them out.”
Fortunately for directors, she says the interrogation phase has an expiration date.
Hathaway explained that once production begins, the questions stop. “When we’re on set, I want to be your first lieutenant,” she said. “I want to execute your vision. I just want to hit the ground running and know exactly what we’re doing and why. We don’t have time for my questions then.”
Lowery confirmed that approach while reflecting on their collaboration on Mother Mary. According to the filmmaker, the pair discussed every line of the script during pre-production, even revisiting certain scenes more than once. Hathaway quickly laughed and admitted some lines received extra attention.
The conversation arrives as the actress continues a particularly busy stretch of her career. She recently starred in “Mother Mary,” an A24 psychological drama featuring music from Jack Antonoff, Charli xcx, and FKA twigs.
Up next, Hathaway will appear in Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey,” where she plays Penelope opposite Matt Damon’s Odysseus. The highly anticipated film is scheduled to arrive in IMAX theatres on July 17.
TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT ANNE HATHAWAY QUESTIONS EVERY DETAIL OF A SCRIPT BEFORE FILMING BEGINS?
