(CNN) — Oscar-winning actress Anne Hathaway said she had to kiss a series of actors during an audition process in the 2000s to “test the chemistry” on camera.
At 41 years old and with dozens of films under her belt, Hathaway revealed that at the beginning of her career she agreed to the “disgusting” request to “make out” with male actors to test her suitability for an unnamed film.
Speaking to V Magazine in an interview published on Monday, Hathaway said: “In the 2000s – and this happened to me – it was considered normal to ask an actor to kiss other actors to see if there was chemistry. In It’s actually the worst way to do it.”
“They told me, ‘Ten guys are coming today and you’re in the 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 of how easy it was to lose everything by being labeled ‘difficult,’ so I just pretended I was excited and moved on.”
“It wasn’t a power play, no one was trying to be horrible or hurt me. It was just a very different time and now we know not to do it.”
Hathaway, who won an Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in 2012’s “Les Misérables,” is currently promoting her new film, “The Idea of You.”
In it she plays Solène, a single mother who begins an unexpected romance with the singer of a popular boy band after meeting at Coachella.
Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine attend the world premiere of “The Idea Of You” during SXSW at The Paramount Theater on March 16, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (Credit: Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images)
The singer, Hayes, is played by British actor Nicholas Galitzine. Asked how he was chosen for the role, Hathaway — who is also a producer on the film — responded: “We asked each of the actors who came in to choose a song that they thought their character would love, that they would play for the role. my character would dance, and then we would do a little improvisation.”
“I would sit in a chair as if we had come from dinner or a walk or something, we would press play and start dancing together.”
Galitzine, who also stars in “Mary & George” with Julianne Moore, cast The Alabama Shakes, according to Hathaway.
“And it was very easy,” he said. “I heard Brittany’s voice [la vocalista de Alabama Shakes] and I started to smile. And the [Galitzine] “He saw me smile, so he relaxed and we started dancing.”
“No one was bragging. No one was trying to get the job. We were just dancing. I looked over and Michael Showalter, our director, was beaming. Sparkling.”
