The pop star character that Anne Hathaway plays in her new movie Mother Mary is sort of a combination of Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. And Anne says that while prepping for the role, she realized that Taylor is a "genius."

Speaking to The New York Times, Anne said that Mother Mary director David Lowery is a "die-hard Swiftie" and gave her a "crazy long" playlist of songs to demonstrate to her the "feeling that [Mother Mary]'s music could give you." Anne says one Taylor song on the playlist stood out to her.

"Right dab in the middle of that playlist was 'Anti-Hero,'” says Anne, referring to Taylor's 2022 #1 hit. "I always really, really liked Taylor, but that was the song where I was like, 'Oh no, wait, she’s taking hold of my brain.'"

"And then I got much deeper into her music," Anne continues. "And then once you see it, you can’t unsee it. You’re just like, 'Oh, she’s a genius.'"

Since then, the two have come to know each other; Anne recently said in another interview that when she went to The Eras Tour, Taylor arranged for a handwritten note to be delivered to her seat. 

Despite Anne's admiration for Taylor, though, she couldn't ever see herself as a pop star.

"What I love to do is share what I’ve gone through, the secret parts of my soul, through a filter, through an avatar that I can privately, secretly relate to," she explains.

"But I don’t have to ever talk about that and I don’t ever have to reveal that. With a pop star, the image that you’re putting out is based on yourself. And so you are your own avatar."

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.