“I was already a fan, but after that I just had so much empathy for her and her humanity and of course her talent”: Anne Hathaway on what changed her opinion of Taylor Swift – and how she inspired her while playing a “dominant pop presence” in Mother Mary

Anne Hathaway and Taylor Swift.

If you’re going to make a movie about someone who its star describes as “one of the dominant pop presences for the past 20 years,” then you could do a lot worse than look for inspiration from Taylor Swift. And, speaking about the project, Mother Mary, Anne Hathaway says that’s precisely what she did.

Appearing onThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Hathaway revealed that Swift was one of several musicians she thought of when constructing her character – the eponymous Mother Mary – with other reference points being Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Rosalía and Lorde. More surprisingly, she also listened to James Blake and Nine Inch Nails in preparation for the role.