Anne Hathaway Talks New Texting Relationship With Anthony Hopkins

Welcome back. Anne Hathaway has proven over the years she really can do it all. She made us laugh while rising through the ranks of the fashion world and the Devil Wears Prada. And she showed off her singing skills and acting chops with her Oscar-winning turn in Les Mis. Well now in the upcoming drama Armageddon Time, Anne plays a mother in 1980s New York who is determined to get the best for her son. It might be an option for you and your family moving forward because it may be a bit slow. My son is not slow. No sir. Mrs. Graff. No I've heard enough. Pick it up. Time to go. Anne Hathaway, good morning. What a meaty role for you to sink your teeth into this mother from 1980s Queens, New York. What drew you to this role? Oh James Gray. The director. Absolutely, absolutely. I've been with all the people that I work with, I've worked with for a really long time. So my agent Josh called me up and he said, I read something and I think you're gonna love it. And I said, who's the director? And he said, it was James. And I had to remind myself that I should read the script before saying yes. He had you at hello. I mean, oh my gosh. Yeah, he had me at The Immigrant. He's an incredible director. And then when I found out what the script was about, how it's his personal story, it's based on his personal life, I thought what an honor, what an honor to be someone. And then I'm playing the character based on his mom. I was going to ask about that. And the honor of being trusted. But also such a responsibility to play his mother, a character he knows presumably better than anyone else. And you know it, you're a mom, you know that role is, it's so tender. It's so remarkable. And I know because I have a mother and I am a mother. It's so central to one's existence. So I found myself being not delicate, but just really sensitive when I was asking questions about his life and about what she was like. Because you never want to presume within a relationship like that. You never want to take up too much room. But I still had to get information because I had to play a character. So it was always a balance. It's such a personal story. I mean, I feel like movies like this don't get made all that often anymore. It seems rare, right? Yes. And it's such a profound story. It's deep. It's layered. But it's not a big action movie. I mean, you know, it's an opportunity for an actress, like I said, to really sink your teeth into it. Well, it's a human story. And we were playing people that we knew were real people. And so being able to play something grounded, but also emotionally rich, dramatic, funny. That's the other thing about this film is they're funny. You know, and this is a story that doesn't shy away from showing some of the ugly sides of family. So we'll go from goofy to violent in a blink of an eye. And it's a challenging film in that way. I heard you challenge your mom, your own mom, a little bit. A little bit. Yes. Yes. So I grew up in Brooklyn in the 80s. And so my mom was a mom in Brooklyn. I'm playing a mother in Queens. But when they asked me what kind of eyeglasses my character wanted to wear, I knew exactly the ones. My mom wore these big tortoiseshell 80s glasses. And we hunted and hunted and hunted. And then we found them. Their amazing performances as the young actors are incredible. Anthony Hopkins, first of all, I mean, okay, you've done a lot in your career. I've been very lucky. Yes. And that was a high. Absolutely. I mean, what, how did you approach it? Like, was there kind of that intimidation? Oh, yes. I tried not to be, I tried not to be, but my first day acting with him, I was non-functional. When I say non-functional, I mean, I couldn't speak. I couldn't get a line out. I had worked really hard at doing the accent. Nothing came out. And like, you know, you're just jittery and nothing, nothing, nothing. And I'm really lucky. Like I said before, I've worked with legends and in the past I would have gone home, beaten myself up and that kind of would have been the job. But this time I thought, okay, it was a day, shake it off. He's a legend. Anybody would trip in front of Anthony Hopkins. It's okay. Go back tomorrow and just be a person and see what happens. And he's so lovely when you're just a person with him. Well, I heard you've kind of connected to the extent that now you're texting friends. Yes, we are. We do text. Text from Anthony Hopkins. They're beautiful. Is it like crows or is it emojis? I mean, it's a combination. It's a little bit of both, but he's, I hope this doesn't sound pretentious because I do mean it sincerely and literally, he's an illuminated soul and he's so generous with his perspective and his life experiences. And so I obviously, how could you not learn so much from him just as an actor? But I just learned just about being a person, just being a human being in this world and in this business. And it was a joy and a gift. Ah, it's wonderful. I mean, let's just text him after. Let's send him a selfie, just because you can. Finally, I have to ask you about Fashion Week. Everyone was so excited because we have to show the picture. Here you are next to Anna Wintour, who famously was the inspiration for the Devil Wears Prada. You're looking like your character, Annie. Was this on purpose? Was this by just design? How did this happen? Look at you. I know that it was kind of nuts, wasn't it? It was by accident. I was supposed to wear something else. The shoes didn't fit. This was the other outfit that came. And then my hairstylist, who's so lovely and I'd never worked with him before, she said, oh, I know what to do. And he threw my hair up in a ponytail and I looked in the mirror and I thought, oh, that's funny. They noticed. Well, you look good. I love it. Thank you very much. And before we go, Savannah, I just have to say my cousin, who's like my sister, her son Noah is your number one fan. So I have to take this opportunity to just say hi, Noah, and let you know. That is so sweet. And hi, Noah. I mean, wow. What an honor. Thank you so much, Noah. I love it. Send him a video and then we'll text Anthony Hopkins. We have a lot to do. So much to do we got to get this going. Check out Armageddon Time, a beautiful and stunning movie from our sister company Focus Features that opens in select theaters on October 28th and nationwide on November 4th.