Actors rejecting offers that often lead to enormous success are quite common in the industry, and many of them do regret passing on those opportunities, but this wasn’t the case for Anne Hathaway. Starting her Hollywood journey as a Disney Princess, the actress soon grew to stardom after she decided to move forward from the usual princess trope and cemented her legacy by starring in several critically acclaimed films.

Among those projects, one movie which landed her an Academy Award came at the expense of another great movie, which garnered Jennifer Lawrence her first Oscar for Best Actress.

Anne HathawayRobert De Niro’s Silver Linings Playbook Had A Different Lead Star Initially

Despite being deemed one of the greatest of all time, the 2000s weren’t the best for Robert De Niro, as he mostly starred in comedies and mediocre action films during that period. However, the Taxi Driver star soon found his glory back after starring in 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook, and it seems Anne Hathaway was originally set to star alongside De Niro in the movie. According to the former film producer, Harvey Weinstein, now a convicted s*x offender, Hathaway was originally set to star as the female lead of the movie, but stepped down due to creative differences. He said,

“Silver Linings Playbook was originally going to be with Anne Hathaway and Mark Wahlberg . . . and then Anne wasn’t doing it. And she’s marvelous and wonderful and she was my choice, I love her. David and Anne had some creative differences.”

Following her exit, the movie would then proceed to add Jennifer Lawrence in the lead alongside director David O. Russell and the film would earn Lawrence her first Oscar for Best Actress. But despite losing the enormous opportunity, the Interstellar star didn’t have to wait long enough to find her Academy accolade and would find herself starring in Les Misérables alongside Hugh Jackman. However, earning her first Oscar would go on to take an enormous toll on the actress’ health.

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)Playing the role of Fantine in Les Misérables wasn’t easy on Anne Hathaway

Delivering a heart-wrenching performance in the role of Fantine in the musical wasn’t easy for Anne Hathaway. Following her extreme dedication to the role of portraying the tragic character, it took a huge toll both mentally and physically on the actress. The Dark Knight Rises star revealed that losing an unhealthy amount of weight for the movie substantially impacted her health, which led to her falling sick. She stated,

“I’d lost an unhealthy amount of weight in two weeks. I didn’t know anything about nutrition. I taxed my body, and my brain bore the brunt of it for a while. I just felt very anxious and very lost at that time. That weight loss was not a long-term good thing for my health, and it took a really long time to come back from it. And I was still really sick because of it.”

Les Misérables (2012)

However, her extreme efforts in perfecting the tragic character did lead to not only landing her first Oscar but would cement Anne Hathaway as one of the most versatile actors of our time.

Silver Linings Playbook is available to stream on Netflix.