Anne Hathaway Bares Soul, Body for New Role

Dedication to ‘Mother Mary’ Requires Extreme Transformation

**Anne Hathaway** reveals the intense preparation for her role in the upcoming film, *Mother Mary*, requiring her to surrender her ego and embrace the vulnerability of a beginner. The actress underwent rigorous training to embody the part of a pop star deemed a deity.

Transformative Experience

According to **Hathaway**, bringing *Mother Mary* to life was “transformational.” She admitted that taking on the role meant surrendering her ego. She told Vogue, “I had to submit to being a beginner…The humility of that — showing up every day knowing you’re going to suck. And it has to be okay. You’re not ‘bad.’ You’re just a beginner.”

To get into the mindset, **Hathaway** had to shed some things that were hard to shed. It was welcome. But it was hard, the way transformational experiences can be hard.”

Demanding Preparation

After realizing she’d have to “become material [**Lowery**] could craft with,” **Hathaway** committed to extensive preparation. The actress spent almost two years in daily dance classes, sometimes from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and intensive voice lessons to perform songs for *Mother Mary* written by **Jack Antonoff** and **Charli XCX**.

**Dani Vitale**, the film’s choreographer, recalled her first impression of **Hathaway** telling Vogue, “You can’t tell me you’re angry; *show me.* Proprioception. That was the training, getting Annie out of her head…I remember that first day, being like, *Oh no.* Because she’s like a doll, you know? So pretty, so graceful. I thought, *Oh God, I have to break this person*.”

Dance training helped **Hathaway** connect with her body, unlocking a crucial skill: breathing.

“I finally learned how to breathe,” **Hathaway** revealed. “My body was so locked up — I literally couldn’t take a deep breath. I’d been trying to open that space for years and I thought it was physically impossible. All my breath, it was stuck.”

Past Transformations

**Hathaway** is known for her commitment to roles. For *WeCrashed* (2022), she adopted a raw vegan diet to mirror **Rebekah Neumann**’s lifestyle. Preparing for Fantine in 2012’s *Les Misérables*, **Hathaway** lost 25 pounds rapidly, a process she later described as taxing on her body and her brain.

Notably, a 2023 study by the National Eating Disorders Association found that 73% of actors feel pressured to change their physical appearance for roles, highlighting the industry’s impact on body image (NEDA).

Dedication and Anxiety

Ahead of filming, **Hathaway** told Vanity Fair in 2024, “I’d rather not be unseated on the day [of filming] by my anxiety…Part of the way I can tell myself that I am okay is by having such a complete level of preparation that if I get a critical voice in my head, you can quiet it down by saying that you did everything you could to prepare.”

With filming wrapped in Cologne, Germany, in 2024, a release date for *Mother Mary* is pending, but **Hathaway**’s dedication suggests the film will be a memorable experience for audiences.