Anne Hathaway Says She Agreed To “Make Out With Other Actors” During Chemistry Reads In The 2000s To Avoid Seeming “Difficult”

For Anne Hathaway, some aspects of Hollywood have changed for the better.

The actress recently reflected on the early days of her career where she would sometimes be asked to “make out” with actors during chemistry reads in the early 2000s.

“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,” Hathaway recently told V magazine. “I was told, ‘We have ten 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.”

Hathaway starred in some of her most well-known projects during this period of time, including The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Brokeback Mountain, The Devil Wears Prada, and more.

Despite her apprehension, the actress confessed that she went along with it to avoid being labeled as “difficult” to work with.

“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,” she said. “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.”

But the chemistry read for her latest film The Idea of You reportedly went differently. The Prime Video feature follows Hathaway’s character, a 40-year-old single mother, as she begins having a passionate affair with a 24-year-old boy bander.

Hathaway, who is also a producer on the film, recounted the experience she had searching for the actor to play her pop star love interest, which they eventually found in Bottoms star Nicholas Galitzine.

She explained that, for the chemistry read, “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.”

She continued, “We had met a number of young men already, but I remember laughing when Nick walked in because he was so ridiculously perfect for the part. I just thought, he is it.”

She praised Galitzine not only for his “charming” audition, but also for his ability to sing and play guitar.

“It was just easy,” Hathaway said of his audition. “I heard [the lead singer of Alabama Shake’s] 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 premieres on Prime Video May 2.