Movies October 28, 2020
Anne Hathaway on Filming ‘The Witches’ Pregnant and Reuniting with ‘Devil Wears Prada’ Co-Star Stanley Tucci
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Anne Hathaway gets to play the most evil Grand High Witch in the new adaptation of Roald Dahl's “The Witches.” “Extra's” Jenn Lahmers caught up with the star to find out what it was like shooting the HBO Max movie pregnant, reuniting with her “Devil Wears Prada” co-star Stanley Tucci, and more.
Anne, who is mom to sons Jonathan, 4, and Jack, 11 months, said it wasn't too bad filming while pregnant, but she did have to fib a little with costume designer Joanna Johnson.
“My early pregnancy was super easy,” Hathaway said. “I could do really helpful actress things like work out and eat salads, which I couldn't do with my first pregnancy. My first pregnancy was all about my couch, quesadillas, and ice cream.”
She went on, “Our legendary costume designer, in our first fitting, she's showing me everything — the gloves, the houndstooth, the gown and… I'm loving it all. And she's like, 'I'm thinking we get you this really tight corset...' and I was like, 'Oooh.' I had just found out I was pregnant, and I'm like, 'Yeah, I don't really know about that,' and she's like, 'Why?'… I realized I had to come up with an excuse… I just went, 'You know, I just know myself and I know if I'm constrained, I'm not as funny'… which means nothing… And 11 weeks later, I told her I was pregnant.”
Dishing on the cast, she said, “Just getting to work with Octavia Spencer for the first time was such a joy.” Adding of Tucci, “'The Devil Wears Prada'… was such a special film. It was lightning in a bottle. Just to pick the love up right where it left off was really great.”
She said of her scenes with Stanley, “Not for nothing, playing this character, which was well outside my comfort zone and I was taking these big risks… it felt really lovely knowing I had a friend opposite me in the scenes… someone who will giggle inappropriately when he finds something funny. The first time I got a giggle out of him, I felt really good about everything.”
Watch “The Witches” on HBO Max.
