When Anne Hathaway agreed to star in Mother Mary, she knew the role demanded more than vocal range or choreography; it required dismantling her public poise and starting “as a beginner every single morning,” she recalled in a recent cover interview.
Two years of daily dance drills left her body “so locked up” she literally couldn’t draw a full breath until coaches taught her to release tension through movement and sound. That work culminated in an extended barn-set solo that Coel says left crew members silent between takes, a rare pause on a production known for its brisk pace.
The A24-backed feature centers on a fractious reunion between a global pop icon and the fashion designer who once curated her image, unfolding mostly inside a rural workshop rather than on arena stages. Original songs by Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX were written after principal photography so the filmmakers could build the score around Hathaway’s physical performance, an approach that extended the schedule into post-production.
Production began in Germany in May 2023 and wrapped in July 2024 under a strike waiver, yet distributor A24 has not committed to a 2025 slot. Director Lowery recently called the final cut “a weird, weird film” and hinted it might wait until 2026 if the edit demands more time. Industry analysts say the hesitation reflects both the movie’s unconventional form—much of it is dialogue-driven and set in a single location—and the crowded release calendar for prestige fall titles.
For Hathaway, however, the payoff appears personal as much as professional. Voice lessons revealed she is more comfortable as a low alto than a soprano, a discovery she likened to “finding where I actually live.” Whether audiences embrace the film’s deliberate strangeness remains unknown, but the performer at its center insists the risk was essential: “You can’t perform Mother Mary—you have to become the material.”
