To answer your first question: Yes, Anne Hathaway is stunningly beautiful in person, with long, shining hair, wide eyes and a killer grin.
What you don’t expect is how quick, fun and open she is on a variety of subjects, including the life of a busy Hollywood actress. Hathaway manages to be smart with ease.

In GET SMART, the new movie based on the classic TV series, she plays the iconic role of Agent 99, a glamorous mystery woman who works for the spy organization CONTROL—and whose real name is a secret even to those closest to her.

The film gave Hathaway the chance to work in a genre we haven’t seen her in yet, and she holds her own opposite the likes of Steve Carell, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp and numerous stunts and special FX.

“I love Agent 99, and I wanted to do the character right. My parents turned me on to the Get Smart series when I was a little girl,” she enthuses.
“It was rerun on Nick at Nite, and they sat me down to watch it with them. They told me, ‘We loved this show when we were kids, and you’ll love it, too.’
I was so hooked when I started watching it. I just loved Max and 99 so much!

“When I went into the audition, I just wanted to meet Steve,” she confesses. “I mean, wouldn’t you? And if I got the part, that would be a bonus—an extraordinary longshot dream come true. But if I didn’t, I could say that I acted in a scene with Steve Carell.
And then when I got the part and realized I would be doing a movie with Steve—oh, I was beyond thrilled!”

Working with Carell “was horrible,” Hathaway giggles.
“Actually, I loved working with him. Steve is one of the comedic masters of our time, and it was a pleasure and an honor to collaborate with him. I was nervous about improvising with Steve at first, because he’s a master of improv, but I got over it.
Steve puts you at ease. He does a great job as Max.”

On the GET SMART series, Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) had a distinctive bob hairdo. Will we see it in the film?

“If you watch the latest trailer, you’ll get the answer to that,” Hathaway coyly responds.
“I’m a pretty easygoing person, but I insisted that for one scene I had to wear the Barbara Feldon bob!"

Pete [Segal, the director] didn’t want me to do it, because he wasn’t sure it would work. So I didn’t want to show him the bob before I wore it in a scene. I just knew that it would look cool.
I wanted Pete to see the bob when I was in full costume—which happened to be a 35-pound dress, as well as awesome, very involved eye makeup topped off by this fantastic Barbara Feldon wig!
Once Pete saw the whole thing, he really, really liked it, and so did Steve.”

Hathaway wanted to pay tribute to one of her childhood heroines.
“Barbara really helped with her portrayal of 99,” she remarks. “Sometimes when you’re an actor, you think at the end of the day, ‘We’re not changing the world.’ But I actually think Barbara might have."

Her Agent 99 was a modern, independent woman. The character was written to be traditional—she always forgave Max, and she always gave him credit—but at the same time, you could tell that she was serious and sexy without being defined by that.
She was smart, elegant and sophisticated, and women looked up to her. I would watch Get Smart and say to myself, ‘Yeah, I want to be complicated like 99!’

As for the future, Anne Hathaway notes, “In addition to GET SMART, I have DANCING WITH SHIVA coming out, which Jonathan Demme directed, and I’m doing a movie with Kate Hudson [BRIDE WARS].
I’m also going to stalk Steve Carell for a while. That’s all my plans for 2008!”

Read Ann Hathaway's complete interview in STARLOG #367 ON SALE NOW at newsstands and bookstores near you.

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