Anne Hathaway's Austen nightmare

Feb 21, 2007, 14:10 GMT

Anne Hathaway - whole new respect for Rene Zellweger © Scott Alan / Photorazzi

Anne Hathaway says filming 'Becoming Jane' was a nightmare.

The brunette, who stars as writer Jane Austen, struggled to cope with perfecting the British accent while filming in a cold Irish climate.

Anne told Britain's Sunday Telegraph magazine: "There were certain days when we were filming in Ireland and it was so cold, and you're trying not to freeze to death and of course I'm trying to do the accent. It's so cold it makes you very tight which can make your voice sound higher.

"It was always raining. I asked the director 'can't you pay for good weather?!' "

The 24-year-old actress admits her intonation was so poor that most of her dialogue had to be re-recorded.

Anne said: "I started to sound a bit too much like myself and not at all like Jane. After all that f***ing accent work, about 80 per cent of the dialogue in the film was unusable. I had to go to England to re-record it all."

The 'Devil Wears Prada' actress says she was terrified at the prospect of portraying the legendary writer and was so determined to impress critics that she was left exhausted after filming finished.

Anne said: "This was my first big accent undertaking. The pressure of playing someone so beloved and of whom people are so fiercely protective was nerve-wracking.

"I've never been so exhausted as when I finished this movie. It took me about two months to regain my strength."

(C) BANG Media International