Jennifer Lawrence earned an Oscar at age 22 because of her role in David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook, but did you know that she was not the first choice? Producer Harvey Weinstein revealed he wanted Anne Hathaway for the role, but the actress had to drop the project.
While many actors are up and ready to take any role that comes their way, some like Hathaway would make sure that they are genuinely attached and dedicated to the film. This, however, was something that she did not see when she agreed to work on the said movie.
Anne Hathaway Dropped From Harvey Weinstein’s Movie Project
In an interview with Howard Stern’s SiriusXM radio show, Harvey Weinstein responded to the question about finding the right person for his movies (via US Weekly):
“It doesn’t drive me insane because I’ve always believed if we can’t get somebody established, we’ll find somebody new. I’ll give you an idea: Silver Linings Playbook was originally going to be with Anne Hathaway and Mark Wahlberg, and then Anne wasn’t doing it. And she’s marvelous and wonderful and she was my choice, I love her.”
The host asked for details pertaining to the time they lost Hathaway for the project:
“David and Anne had some creative differences. They didn’t see eye-to-eye.”
Bradley Cooper also replaced Wahlberg for the role of Patrick ‘Pat’ Solitano, Jr. Jennifer Lawrence went to play Tiffany Maxwell, a mentally unstable widow. Stern joked that Hathaway must have been kicking herself after The Hunger Games star won the Best Actress award. Weinstein answered:
“Well, whatever. I don’t think so. She went on to win the Academy Award for Les Miserables — maybe we’re kicking [ourselves] in the head.”
The studio executive praised Lawrence and acknowledged her efforts that made her Oscar-worthy:
“Then Jennifer Lawrence and two or three other actresses came in, and the minute we saw Jennifer Lawrence’s tape… Because I said, ‘How the hell are we gonna replace Annie?’ And then this amazing creature walked in who is a brilliant actress, and so much fun, and she won an Oscar.”
At least, Hathaway did not come home empty-handed because she still won Best Supporting Actress for Les Miserables in 2013.
Anne Hathaway Turns Down Roles For One Major Reason
This is not the first time Anne Hathaway refused a project that became a massive hit. In an interview with Allure, she dropped out from the 2007 comedy Knocked Up because of the graphic birth scene:
“I thought about that [director] Judd [Apatow] was right to include the shot. I didn’t disagree with the shot. My issue with it was that having not experienced motherhood myself, I didn’t know how I was gonna feel on the other side about giving birth. Because giving birth involves another human being, I didn’t feel it was fair for me to make that call for myself.”
In the end, Hathaway admitted that she should have done the movie. Silver Linings Playbook and Knocked Up are available to stream on Netflix.
Sources: Howard Stern’s SiriusXM, Allure
