Anne Hathaway talks shocking 'Eileen' movie, prolific year: 'I had six women living in me'

NEW YORK – You’ll never guess what’s coming in Anne Hathaway’s new thriller.

Intensely erotic and deliciously demented, “Eileen” (in theaters nationwide Friday) rattled moviegoers when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

“Sundance was like a rock concert,” Hathaway recalls, seated with co-star Thomasin McKenzie at a Midtown hotel. “The audience was so loud; people were gasping.” At one point, there’s a shocking twist that blindsided the crowd. “I knew it was coming, so I sat there and it happened and the entire audience screamed. One person up in the back of the balcony just goes, ‘What?!’ It was so great.”

Anne Hathaway looked to Katharine Hepburn, 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' for 'Eileen' movie inspiration

Based on Ottessa Moshfegh’s 2015 novel, the 1960s-set movie follows a meek young woman named Eileen (McKenzie) working at a boys prison outside Boston. Living under the thumb of her alcoholic, widowed dad (Shea Whigham), Eileen frequently daydreams of killing herself and her father. But her world is turned upside down by the arrival of ravishing psychologist Rebecca St. James (Hathaway), who strikes up a friendship-turned-flirtation with her mousy new co-worker.

One critic called the film a “cursed, curdled version” of 2015’s “Carol,” which charts a forbidden romance between Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. Hathaway, 41, very much agrees with that description.

“It’s a film about facades,” Hathaway says. “I was really inspired by the line from ‘Breakfast at Tiffany's,’ when Holly Golightly is described as ‘a real phony.’ There are very good reasons for why Rebecca is presentational: She's trying to (beguile) people so that she can do whatever it is that she wants to do, while they're so busy and distracted looking at the bright, shiny thing.”

The actress evokes a Hitchcock blonde with Rebecca’s retro bob, slim cigarettes and chic winter coats. The character has shades of Italian film star Monica Vitti, “in terms of her mystery and how you want to lean in to hear what she’s saying,” Hathaway says. “But then I wanted to marry it with elements of Katharine Hepburn, who you can imagine striding across every room she entered onward to that next horizon. There's something very alluring yet messianic about her.”

As the film goes on, Rebecca coaxes Eileen out of her shell: inspiring her to dress up more and cower less in her father’s presence. For McKenzie, 23, it was thrilling to play Eileen’s “intense fascination” with Rebecca, which oscillates between envy and lust.

“Eileen is obsessed with Rebecca and wants to be her,” McKenzie says. “But then, what also shows through is that she’s absolutely enamored and in love with Rebecca, and wants to spend the rest of her life with her because she feels so strongly about her.”

On set, Hathaway was the 'official ambassador' to New Jersey

The sultry pinnacle of their relationship is during a boozy night out on the town when Rebecca makes the other barflies jealous by inviting Eileen out to the dancefloor. They shimmy and slow-dance to songs by Art Neville and the Exciters, and later steal a kiss while sharing a smoke.

“It’s like this meteor just landed on Earth; chemistry is sparking and flying everywhere,” Hathaway says of the scene. It was also the first one she shot with McKenzie, and “it was a really cool scene to start with, to kind of figure out each others’ energy.”

The actresses hadn’t met before “Eileen,” but were mutual fans of one another. Hathaway first saw McKenzie in 2021’s “The Power of the Dog,” while McKenzie grew up watching Hathaway in her 2001 breakout “The Princess Diaries.” (“That’s the only time those two films have ever been said in the same sentence,” Hathaway jokes. “But I do think they are both incredible films.")

"Eileen" was uniquely challenging to Hathaway, who shot half a dozen projects in quick succession, including James Gray's "Armageddon Time" and Apple TV+ series "WeCrashed." She also appeared in this fall's "She Came to Me," and stars alongside Jessica Chastain in next year's "Mother's Instinct."

"This was an interesting one for me because I did a number of films back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back. I had six women living in me," Hathaway says with a laugh. "All at the same time! So I was just trying to keep everything straight and make sure the work was as deep as I could make it."

The mental gymnastics paid off: After winning the best supporting actress Oscar for 2012's "Les Misérables," Hathaway is back in contention this year with "Eileen," having just earned a nomination for best supporting performance from the Independent Spirit Awards. McKenzie, a fast-rising star with roles in “Jojo Rabbit” and “Leave No Trace,” says Hathaway has been an inspiration as she forges a path in Hollywood.

“You’ve been in this industry for a really long time and your career has had such longevity,” McKenzie says. “Just being on set together, I really admired how you hold yourself so well.”

Hathaway’s graciousness extended to the many spectators who wished to observe filming "Eileen" in Metuchen and South Amboy, New Jersey. The A-lister was something of a hometown hero: Although born in New York, she grew up about 30 minutes north of Metuchen in Millburn, New Jersey.

“She was the official ambassador," director William Oldroyd quips. "It was so funny because all the cops in South Amboy wanted their pictures taken with Anne. It was really nice."

“My love for Jersey runs deep and true,” Hathaway says. “It’s a great place to be artistic and ambitious and young because you just have this hunger being right next to the place where people are doing the thing you want to do.”