Anne Hathaway “pitched” the idea of her steamy scene in Verity.
Anne Hathaway stars in the psychological thriller
The 43-year-old actress has opened up about the erotic scene with Dakota Johnson in Verity, the new psychological thriller film directed by Michael Showalter.
Anne – who is currently pregnant with her third child – told People: “I don’t remember it being improvised because I pitched it.
“So I think that maybe what was improvised was the scream at the end. I don’t know. I was just thinking about how this book got under my skin, and so much of the book is about obsession and not being able to get something out of your head.”
Anne plays the part of Verity Crawford, a bestselling author, in the new movie, while Dakota stars as Lowen Ashleigh, a writer.
Anne still has vivid memories of pitching the steamy scene to Michael, the director.
The acclaimed actress said: “There was so much about what Lowen has going on and her obsession with Verity, and her trying to become Verity, and her hunger. I don’t know I think I was just doing the dishes and I had this scene, and I pitched it to Michael.
“I remember this happening. I hope this is how it happened. It wound up in the movie. And then right at the end of it, that was when Michael, the last take was like, ‘Dakota, scream.’ She’s like, ‘Really?’ He was like, ‘Just scream.’ She let out this scream. I was right here when she did it, and it was one of the coolest, best screams I had ever seen.
“I’m a big fan of [screams]. I don’t know why, I just love screams in movies and I was like, ‘That’s an all-timer. That was great.’ And it’s great in the movie.”
Michael previously claimed Dakota and Anne came up with their erotic scene.
The filmmaker – who directed the Oscar-nominated movies The Big Sick and The Eyes of Tammy Faye – told Variety: “It really evolved into Anne and Dakota saying, ‘What if while she’s making out with him, it turns into [Anne]?’ And me going, ‘If you want to do that, yeah.’
“And I thought there was something very sexy — erotic — about Dakota being like, ‘I’m just going to sit on your lap and start kissing you.’ She sees [Jeremy] and just goes there, and that felt like the beginning of something that felt transgressive. She took this thing that she wants, and he’s there for it.”