Anne Hathaway on protecting herself from her ‘worst fear’ on the Mother’s Instinct set
Anne Hathaway says she insisted on being called by her character’s name in her latest project in order to protect herself from her “worst fear”.
The Oscar winner stars alongside Jessica Chastain in the thriller Mother’s Instinct which follows the lives of two 1960s housewives whose lives and friendships are destroyed after a tragic event.
(L-R) Hathaway and Jessica Chastain. Pic: StudioCanal
“It was one of those jobs you really, really didn’t want to take home with you,” Hathaway told Sky News.
An adaptation of the 2018 French film of the same name, Mother’s Instinct is the directorial debut of filmmaker Benoit Delhomme, and was shot in just 24 days.
The Devil Wears Prada star says she’s typically quite “laid back on set,” but this film’s storyline forced her to create a separation between work and real life.
“I did call a meeting with Jessica [Chastain], Benoit [Delhomme – the director] and a few of the key crew, and I just said, ‘Listen, I’m going to have to insist on this one, that you call me my character’s name’.”
She says she told them: “I sort of have to create a protective layer between me and her, because this is my worst fear. And I would really appreciate it if everybody could just get under me in the end, support me in this way. And you guys were amazing, and I was protected in that way.”
The thriller also stars fellow Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain who believes the time the film is set in, draws comparisons to the present day.
“The 1960s was such an explosive moment in our society in terms of gender, where women were really starting to find their freedom and starting to be heard in a big way.”
Pic: StudioCanal
‘Unfair expectations placed on women’
Mother’s Instinct sees both actresses battle against gender norms of being a housewife, stopping your career to raise a family and waiting on your husband’s needs and desires.
The Good Nurse actress says, unfortunately there’s still a way to go: “I think there are unfair expectations placed on women all the time.”
Chastain explains that there are certain beliefs placed upon women in the media from “the pitch of their voice” to “how they’re presenting themselves in the world in terms of their femininity”.
Pic: StudioCanal
‘Actress sniper’ Chastain
Hathaway and Chastain are good friends in real life, after having previously worked together on Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.
Hathaway jokes that Chastain was “an actress sniper” on set, adding that she had to let herself “marvel” at her co-star’s “incredible” performance.
She says: “It was an aspect of filming that was actually really, really hard because I knew I had to give my friend space to play her character, but I did not want [her] to be that good at anxiety.”
The film also features Josh Charles (Dead Poets Society), Anders Danielsen Lie (The Worst Person In The World) and Caroline Lagerfelt (Gossip Girl).
Mother’s Instinct is in cinemas now.
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
More entertainment news:
Paris Hilton’s home destroyed in fires
RuPaul pays tribute to The Vivienne
Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway