Five films. Five genres. One very busy year. Anne Hathaway is wrapping up her most ambitious run yet with Verity, the psychological thriller based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, also starring Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett.
On Tuesday evening, the trio joined Hoover for the film’s premiere at New York’s AMC Lincoln Square, just days before Verity hits theaters on October 2. Hathaway arrived in a custom Prabal Gurung gown, capping off a whirlwind season marked by a packed slate of projects, press tours, and public appearances. Was she starting to lose count?
“No, no, no! Five is a lot, but I haven’t lost track because I’ve had so much help,” Hathaway told Vogue with a laugh. “Everything has not been effortless with all the back-to-back press and red carpets. There’s been an army of people behind me at every step, and I’m just really lucky. This year has all been really amazing. For most actors, we are lucky to get one film a year, but to have a year that’s been ridiculously overly-blessed, I’m appreciating every second of it.”
The final act of an extraordinary year has showcased Hathaway’s range: a pop star in Mother Mary, Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada 2, Penelope, queen of Ithaca, in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, a dinosaur-fighting mom in The End of Oak Street, and now a reclusive author whose secrets refuse to stay buried in Verity. For all the career highs, Hathaway’s most personal milestone had nothing to do with a movie set: she’s expecting her third child.
“My favorite professional moment—there’s too many. I’ll have to process it for a long time,” Hathaway recalled. “But, my favorite moment of the year was taking a pregnancy test and finding out it was positive. It was a complete shock! I found out right before everything kicked off.”
While Hathaway is looking ahead to a new chapter off-screen, Hartnett is revisiting familiar territory on screen. In Verity, he plays Hathaway’s husband, a character who is equal parts charming, sexy, mysterious—and possibly dangerous. The role taps into the heartthrob persona that made him a fixture of the early 2000s—and it turned out to be a welcome return to that archetype. “It’s funny, I haven’t done a role like this in a long time, where I’m the center of some sort of sexual escapade between two very beautiful women,” Hartnett admitted with a smile. “So I felt a little bit nervous about it. I’m 48 years old. It’s a different world, and I’ve been playing a lot of interesting characters that are much, much different from this. But it was a chance to do it with these wonderful actors, and Michael [Showalter] is a terrific filmmaker. I couldn’t turn it down. It’s a great role.”
Nearly three decades into his career, Hartnett has long since moved beyond the romantic leading-man persona that defined his early years. With age, he says, has come a certain perspective: the ability to stop worrying about what the work says about him.
“Here’s the thing. When you’re young, you feel like all your work defines you as a person. You’re trying to figure out who you are—well, who I was, from 18 into my mid-20s. Now I feel like the work itself doesn’t define me, and I’m having more fun playing characters without really caring about other people’s perceptions of what I’m doing,” he told Vogue. “I just want to play fun characters, entertain, and do something different every time. I’ve been really lucky to have great directors who have allowed me to do that and still want me to do it. That’s the best I could ask for. It’s a wonderful situation to be in. I love acting. I love my job. I’m very happy.”
Following the crowd-pleasing screening, the party moved across town to the Central Park Boathouse. Johnson, meanwhile, bowed out of the festivities, leaving Hathaway and Hartnett to carry the celebrations into the night. Hartnett was among the first to arrive, taking in the Manhattan skyline from the outdoor patio. He soon linked up with Showalter, his co-star Ismael Cruz Córdova, and Hathaway inside the Boathouse’s dining room. Hathaway had changed into something more comfortable: a black long-sleeved shirt with feather cuffs at the wrists, paired with matching trousers and a statement necklace. As the actress made the rounds, accepting congratulations as she went, guests stopped to gently rub her baby bump. Between conversations, she hit the dance floor, letting loose to the DJ’s music. She kicked things up a notch when Rihanna’s “Umbrella” started playing, singing along and throwing her arms in the air.
At 11:30 p.m., just as servers began passing around chocolate-covered strawberries, Hathaway made her exit discreetly. It was a fitting way to end the night. After Verity’s release, she’s ready to retreat from the spotlight. “I’m really excited to meet my baby, and to be in that little bubble in time,” she said. “There’s no work obligations on the horizon, so I’m going to get that time to just spend with my family and kind of close the door on this beautiful year.”
-
1/4 Josh Hartnett, Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway
Josh Hartnett, Anne Hathaway, Ismael Cruz Córdova
-
3/4
Adam Shulman and Anne Hathaway
