Ed Zwick: Anne Hathaway 'in bloom' in 'Love and Other Drugs'
“There is a moment in every actor’s life,” believes director Edward Zwick, “when they reach the height of their powers and are expressing the height of their beauty and creativity -– they’re in bloom.”
That time is now for Anne Hathaway, says Zwick. Her performance in the filmmaker’s latest project, “Love and Other Drugs” -- the Nov. 24 romantic comedy about a charming pharmaceutical sales rep (Jake Gyllenhaal) who falls for an artist afflicted by early onset Parkinson's disease (Hathaway) -- has already sparked some awards buzz.
Zwick had long been a fan of Hathaway’s work before casting her in his latest film. He said he was particularly struck by her “artistically brave” performance in Shakespeare in the Park, and called her for a meeting.
“We met and it became so clear to me that there were aspects to her that hadn’t changed, having to do with her humor and her earthiness,” he said.
Hathaway, 27, has already earned one Academy Award nomination for her gritty role in 2008’s “Rachel Getting Married.” Her most recent turn is equally deserving, says Zwick, who said the actress immediately dived into researching her character by spending time with Parkinson’s patients.
“I didn’t have to ask her to do it. It was just understood,” he said. “When you’re working with an actor of her seriousness, there was never even an assumption that she wouldn’t. I was planning on introducing her to people because I knew she would want to. I mean, Denzel Washington spent all night long in military tanks when we did ‘Courage Under Fire.’ God knows Matt Damon wanted to find out what it was like to be in the military [for that same film]. And Tom Cruise wanted to become expert in the swords [in ‘The Last Samurai’]. It’s almost an understood expectation.”
--Amy Kaufman
Photo: Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal star in "Love and Other Drugs." Credit: 20th Century Fox.
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