Anne Hathaway to Star in Dee Rees’s ‘The Last Thing He Wanted’

By Sheryl Oh

Hathaway’s renaissance could include one of Hollywood’s most exciting up and coming directors.

Anne Hathaway‘s unexpectedly chameleonic brand continues to flourish. Losing out on parts to younger actors may have taken a toll and created a bit of a lull period in her career a while ago, but she is slowly returning to center stage on the big screen in full force. I’m especially looking forward to seeing Hathaway line up more awesome projects with interesting directors. In the past she has worked with such iconic filmmakers as Ang Lee, Lone Scherfig, and Tim Burton and has cultivated enough of a relationship with the likes of Christopher Nolan and Garry Marshall to star in several of their films. Now she could add Dee Rees to the list.

Hathaway is reportedly in talks to star in The Last Thing He Wanted, which will be based on a Joan Didion novel of the same name. The adaptation, penned by Marco Villalobos with Rees set to helm, will follow a reporter who quits her job at the Washington Post to care for her father. In doing so, she inherits his position as an arms dealer for covert government forces and soon finds herself in the crosshairs of political espionage. There’s a lot to unpack with such a plot synopsis, which taps into a woman’s dilemma while discussing themes of family, legacy, and obviously criminality.

Neither Rees nor Hathaway have experience in the political thriller genre, but it’s easy to remain optimistic about the pairing should they end up working together. Rees, whose period drama Mudbound is nominated for four Academy Awards this year, is currently the talk of the town, and she currently has another project in the works with actress Carey Mulligan about Gloria Steinem. Rees’s other films include the 2011 feature Pariah, which is a thoroughly affecting coming-out story that shakes you to the core.

This seems like something different for Hathaway, even among her current choices. Her particular brand of likability has served her well playing protagonists we want to root for, but she has managed to chip away at that persona for a few unforgettable roles of late. She notably branched out recently with Colossal, four years after her Oscar-winning turn as Fantine in Les Miserables. Hathway has consistently played intriguing lead roles without discarding her marketability, and she champions women-led cinema in a very proactive way.

Collaborating with Rees would frankly make for one of the most exciting team-ups. The Last Thing He Wanted — “a thrilling story of one woman, alone and unrelenting in a race against time” — could only soar with such powerful, confident storytellers at the helm.

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