Anne Hathaway Shares What She Really Feels About Her Age Gap With ‘Idea of You’ Co-Star
Actor Anne Hathaway recently paired up Nicholas Galitzine for the feature The Idea of You. It seems their age gap won’t be ignored in the feature, and will actually be a driving force in the movie.
But what does Hathaway feel about a romantic film where she’s more than a decade older than her onscreen counterpart?
Anne Hathaway recently addressed the age gap in ‘The Idea of You’
Hathaway’s Amazon Prime romance The Idea of You sees her working alongside Nicholas Galitzine for the first time. Hathaway plays a mother in her 40s who has a chance encounter with a global pop superstar, which leads to an unexpected turn of events. One of the most talked-about topics in the highly anticipated adaptation was the age difference between Hathaway and Galitzine.
The age difference presented in the film isn’t entirely uncommon. But it’s even more of a rarity to see a much older female actor romantically paired with a younger male actor on-screen. The Oscar-winner is 41 years old, whereas her partner Galitzine is only 29.
But the age of Hathaway’s character is a focal point in the movie, and has somewhat encouraged this type of discussion. In a recent interview with Today, Hathaway opened up about how she felt about the age gap.
“It’s kind of fun to be in a film where we talk about it, where we don’t dance around it, but we actually embrace her point of view on it,” she said.
Hathaway added that the age of 40 can be interpreted in many different ways among people. Which the film will also touch on.
“It’s funny, it’s OK if 40 is old, it’s OK if 40 isn’t old, it’s OK whatever it is, because it’s personal,” she said. “For Solène, her point of view is, you know, she became a mom really young and she really wanted to have a career and so she doesn’t totally identify with her age.”
Whereas many become set in their ways and who they are when they turn 40, Hathaway asserts that isn’t the case for everyone. The Idea of You explores the 40-year-old who is still trying to identify themself.
“She feels like maybe she’s done things a little bit out of order and for her, 40 means it’s a time … of self discovery for her,” Hathaway said. “And that’s what the movie says … how wonderful that she finds someone that she feels so supported by, seen by, embraced by, valued by.”
Nicholas Galitzine felt an instant connection with Anne Hathaway for ‘The Idea of You’
Galitzine proved to be the perfect choice for Hathaway by beating out other hopefuls for the role. Hathaway served as a producer in the film, so Galitzine had to impress the actor herself to snag the opportunity. To do this, Galitzine had to sing a song when they met for the first time.
“She wanted the actors who were coming in to choose a song that would make her want to dance, and see, you know…movement,” Galitzine told Vogue.
The routine wasn’t a problem for Galitzine, who’d already been a fan of Hathaway’s from the beginning. He rattled off The Devil Wears Parada and Love & Other Drugs as among his favorite movies.
“But that’s the thing about Annie, her gift as an actor is she sort of draws you in with her sweetness and her charm, and then sucker punches you with her emotional capabilities,” he said.
After claiming his Idea of You role, it was noted that he and the Interstellar actor spent the entire day workshopping for the movie to the point of tears. This was when they found what many stars often strive to achieve in romance features.
“There was this immediate connection,” Galitzine said. “We’re in a project that requires chemistry. If you don’t have it, it just feels clunky, it won’t work.”
