Phoenix 24
A movie scene almost became a real-life publicity stunt.
Los Angeles
Anne Hathaway has revealed that pregnancy prevented her from taking part in the full Hot Ones challenge while promoting Verity, even though the popular interview format appears inside the film itself. The 43 year old actress, who is expecting her third child with husband Adam Shulman, said she had seriously considered appearing on the show as part of the movie’s promotional campaign. Her plans changed after her doctor warned that consuming increasingly spicy wings could potentially trigger premature labor. The decision turned what seemed like a natural marketing crossover into a health precaution.
Hot Ones already plays a role in Verity because Hathaway’s character, successful author Verity Crawford, appears in the program as part of the film’s depiction of her public profile. Hathaway explained that she ate the first three real wings while shooting the sequence before the production switched to imitation versions. The experience left her curious about completing the actual ten wing challenge outside the movie. Pregnancy, however, made that possibility medically inadvisable.
The inclusion of Hot Ones was itself partly Hathaway’s idea. She felt the film needed recognizable media appearances to establish Verity as a culturally prominent author rather than merely telling audiences that the character was famous. One appearance on Call Her Daddy was already included in the script, and Hathaway suggested expanding the concept with other recognizable interview settings. That decision added a layer of contemporary celebrity culture to the adaptation.
Hathaway also admitted that she had reservations about experiencing the challenge for the first time while simultaneously acting. She compared the idea to having a first kiss on camera, arguing that some experiences are better encountered authentically before being performed. For now, she has not ruled out attempting Hot Ones later, suggesting that the opportunity could return once her pregnancy is over.
Verity is scheduled to reach theaters on October 2. Based on Colleen Hoover’s 2018 novel, the film also stars Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett and follows a struggling writer drawn into the disturbing world surrounding a successful author and her family.
What began as a promotional idea ultimately became a reminder that even carefully planned celebrity campaigns can be reshaped by something far more immediate: health.
Sometimes the most sensible performance is the one never attempted.