Anne Hathaway has shared that she listened to Beyoncé’s “Ameriican Requiem” on repeat to get into the mindset for her role in the upcoming movie musical, Mother Mary.
The 43-year-old actress stars in A24’s psychological drama as a fictional pop icon named Mother Mary, who reconnects with her estranged best friend and former costume designer (played by Michaela Coel) on the eve of her comeback performance.
Hathaway, known for her work in The Princess Diaries and her Oscar-winning role as Fantine in the 2012 film adaptation of Les Misérables, mentioned that her voice is “much softer” than that of typical pop stars. She described musical theater as “many wonderful things, but it’s not the coolest sound. Not known for its swag!” during a Q&A in New York, as reported by Variety.
“I listened to ‘Ameriican Requiem’ by Beyoncé, over and over and over,” she revealed.
Hathaway praised Beyoncé’s “mesmerizing and astonishing” vocals on the lead track of her 2024 Grammy-winning album, Cowboy Carter. She explained that she studied the pop star’s “phraseology, her musicianship, understanding the history of her voice that had led her to be able to make that sound that is so still, so present.”
“I appreciated that Beyoncé can be a powerful vocalist, but she also knows how to be still,” Hathaway continued. “I thought, OK, maybe there’s something to be said about having a sweet, still voice. Maybe I can work with this.”
Still, she admitted that learning the phrasing of pop music “was a really big deal — that was like learning a new language.”
At the movie’s premiere, she told People that she had also spoken with Charli xcx, the hitmaker behind the song “360,” to gain more insight into life as a pop star.
“I wanted to talk to her about the music, she wrote such amazing music that I was going to perform,” Hathaway explained. “But I also just had a lot of questions for her about what her life was like, what the experience of being a pop star was.”
Directed by David Lowery, Mother Mary also features Hunter Schafer, Alba Baptista, FKA twigs, and Kaia Gerber.
The film has already received mixed reviews from critics. The Guardian’s Owen Myers called it a “ludicrous pop star drama” in a two-star review, while Vulture’s Alison Willmore declared it “worth your worship.” The movie currently holds a middling 76 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Mother Mary opens in limited theaters on April 17 before expanding nationwide on April 24.
