Anne Hathaway recalls making out with 10 men for 'gross' chemistry test in the 2000s: 'I wasn't excited'

"It was just a very different time and now we know better.”

Anne Hathway is no stranger to onscreen chemistry. From her iconic dalliances with Robert Schwartzman and Chris Pine in The Princess Diaries movies to her steamy romance with Jake Gyllenhaal in Love & Other Drugs and now her buzzworthy May-December affair with Nicholas Galitzine in Amazon's The Idea of You, Hathaway has created swoon-worthy chemistry with some of Hollywood's best.

However, it wasn't always easy to convince directors that she and her costars had what it takes to make a romance sizzle for the camera. Hathaway reveals in a new interview with V Magazine how chemistry reads in her early career called for a lot more physical action even before getting on set.

“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. Which is actually the worst way to do it,” she said. “I was told, ‘We have ten guys coming today and you’re cast. Aren’t you excited to make out with all of them?’"

Hathaway felt the opposite about the situation but was worried about what protesting would mean for her career.

"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 how easy it was to lose everything by being labeled ‘difficult,’ so I just pretended I was excited and got on with it. 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.”

As a producer on The Idea of You, in which Hathaway plays single mother Soléne Marchand, who develops a whirlwind affair with boy band singer Hayes Campbell (Galitzine) after a meet-cute at Coachella, the actress could tell she and her costar would have chemistry from his first audition.

“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," Hathaway recalled. "I just thought, he is it. Is he gonna be able to read the lines? Read the lines, great. Okay, can you sing? Oh, my God, he can sing. Wait and he can play the guitar? Okay, and he’s just fun to be around. He’s just charming. Like, he’s just charmed this entire room."

Instead of making out with each Hayes Campbell hopeful, Hathaway and the creative team tasked the auditioning actors with bringing in a song they thought Hayes would play to get Soléne to dance. Galitzine secured the part with an upbeat Alabama Shakes tune.

"I heard [the lead singer of Alabama Shakes] Brittany’s voice and I just started smiling. And [Nick] 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!"

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