Anne Hathaway Reveals Why She Never Wants to Be a Pop Star After Playing One in “Mother Mary”
Anne Hathaway Reveals Why She Never Wants to Be a Pop Star After Playing One in “Mother Mary”
Jack SmartThu, April 23, 2026 at 8:02 PM UTC
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Anne Hathaway in 'Mother Mary'Credit: A24 -
Anne Hathaway spoke to The New York Times about new movies Mother Mary and The Devil Wears Prada 2
Upon finishing Mother Mary, in which she played a music superstar, she recalled thinking, “wow, I am so not a pop star”
Hathaway also said singing pop music requires “effortless power, which is not really my thing”
Don't expect Anne Hathaway to turn her recent pop star role into a real music career.
In a Thursday, April 23 New York Times profile, Hathaway, 43, discussed taking on the titular songstress in Mother Mary (in select theaters now), a role that required the Oscar winner to perform original songs written by FKA Twigs, Jack Antonoff and Charli xcx.
“To my horror and dismay, I realized I had no idea how to sing into a microphone because all of my training was onstage, where there's so much projection involved,” said the actress, adding with a laugh, “Pop music is the opposite. It's effortless power, which is not really my thing. I'm, like, all about effort.”
Anne Hathaway at a New York screening of 'Mother Mary' on April 13Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
The star of The Devil Wears Prada 2 said the experience taught her that taking on other characters is much more her strength than baring it all in front of an arena crowd. “I was like, wow, I am so not a pop star,” she quipped.
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“What I love to do is share what I've gone through, the secret parts of my soul, through a filter, through an avatar that I can privately, secretly relate to,” Hathaway added. “But I don't have to ever talk about that and I don't ever have to reveal that. With a pop star, the image that you're putting out is based on yourself. And so you are your own avatar.”
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Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel in 'Mother Mary'Credit: Eric Zachanowich/Courtesy of A24
Researching the role of Mother Mary entailed both actorly imagination and intense preparation. “I had an instinct about the character that I had from the first read — the brokenness of her, everything related to the dialogue and acting,” she said. “Everything else was so much research. All of the performance stuff wound up a yearslong process to learn how to be a pop star.”
Mother Mary, from writer-director David Lowery, stars Hathaway and Michaela Coel, plus Hunter Schafer, Kaia Gerber, Sian Clifford, Twigs and more. It's one of a whopping five movies starring Hathaway this year, which include The Odyssey, Verity and The End of Oak Street.
“That kind of a pace is unsustainable, particularly now. I have young children,” Hathaway pointed out to the New York Times. The last three years of filming so many projects feel like “an anomaly,” she said.
“I can't see anybody asking me to maintain that pace when my kids are out of my house, which will be like late 50s, early 60s. So I see this as kind of a one-off, and I'm just enjoying it because it's never gonna happen again.”
Mother Mary is in theaters now. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is in theaters May 1.
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