Anne Hathaway switches gears from her usual roles of sympathetic, sweet characters (The Princess Diaries, Ella Enchanted, and Becoming Jane) to star in the new movie, Rachel Getting Married, in which she plays a young woman who has been in and out rehab for more than ten years, and returns home for her sister’s wedding.  Anne sat down with Filmazing to give us the scoop on her new, edgy role.

Filmazing: You usually play extremely sympathetic characters, so this is a different role for you. We don't always like Kym in this film--she's rather unsympathetic.

Anne: In some ways. However, Kim is my most sympathetic character to date. She’s not my most likeable to be sure, but I think, in my mind at least she is the most loveable.

Filmazing: Okay, explain that.

Anne: I think Kim is genuine, sometimes her candor can rankle, and it can seem inappropriate, but when you see that she’s not actually being honest to make other people uncomfortable, she is being honest to support her own sobriety. I think that’s what makes her sympathetic, you realize that she is doing whatever she can to survive and when you realize that, and make that connection, I found myself rooting for her.  Also, she is so big hearted she would rather die than hurt anyone else, but she kind of can’t help it because she’s got a very specific personality. She is just being herself, and so it’s up to everyone else to decide whether they like her or they don’t or the love her or they don’t, but she is just being herself.

Filmazing: What did you do to prepare for this? Did you do some research, attend some meetings? 

Anne: I attended meetings, I spoke with a few of my friends who are in recovery, and they actually took me to meetings. I started off going to whatever meetings there were and then did some research and found a meeting that seemed like it would be more one that Kim would attend, so I did that. I spoke with a lot of families with people in recovery, and there is a great online community, NMA message board, that I checked out That was very helpful, and I read books, and just did as much as I could, short of the physical addiction stuff.

Filmazing: And you cut your own hair?

Anne: I did actually, I was supervised.  I did it with a friend of mine who is a hairstylist and he came over the morning before we did the camera test, or actually it was the morning of the camera test.  We tied my hair off into 3 bits, cut it, and then went at it with kitchen shears and a straight razor until we kind of got the choppiness that we wanted.  It was very fun, I suggest everyone do it. It will look awful, but it’s very fun.

Filmazing: Do you even recommend those desperate 'cut your own bangs' moments?

Anne: I did that once when I was three just for fun and of course it was the day before picture day, so I had a nice little peak coming down.

Filmazing: Would you say your character changes in this film--does she learn?

Anne: That’s a complicated question, and I’m afraid that I might not give a good answer.  Kim came to fight for her place in her family, that’s why she comes home.  She wanted to be there for her sister on her wedding day, and I think Kim thought about the ceremony but maybe didn’t imagine what it was gonna be like to be there for the whole shebang. So she’s transformed because she did it, she showed up. She was there for the key part, for the ceremony, and she realizes that she has a choice in her own sobriety and what she can do to support it.  She decides that not being home is gonna be the best thing for her. And I love, a key moment for me in the script that I just love, is when Kim is driving home after the fight with her mother, and there is a sign that she comes upon where she can either go right or left.  In my head left was home which was gonna drive her crazy with alcohol there and right was the path she used to take to go to her old dealer’s house.  So, I thought she couldn’t make either choice, and she makes a third choice for herself. I think allowing herself that freedom definitely changes her.

Filmazing: One more quick question:  Have you ever attended a siblings’ wedding?

Anne: Yes, my older brother got married almost 2 years ago now and it was absolutely delightful. Any stress was charming and makes for good anecdotes now. So nothing quite like this in the film.