Anne Hathaway convinced Song One writer/director to age role just for her

Actress Anne Hathaway had to appeal to writer/director Kate Barker-Froyland to "age" the lead female character in their new movie Song One after realizing she wanted to serve double duty as both producer and star of the film.

The Oscar winner, 32, admits she was only meant to work behind-the-scenes with her co-producer and husband, Adam Shulman, on the independent drama, about a woman who begins a relationship with her ailing brother's favorite musician, but she soon found herself thinking non-stop about the character of Franny, so she convinced Barker-Froyland to tweak the storyline.

She explains, "At first, we were just asked to come on as producers by writer/director Kate Barker-Froyland, and then after a couple of weeks, I found myself on the subway (in New York), I'd be thinking about Franny and then I'd just be on the treadmill at the gym, thinking about Franny, and then all of a sudden, I realized I had a crush on her.

"But the character was originally written as a 24 year old, and I'm not delusional, so I knew that me playing her, we'd have to age her up (sic), so I called Kate and asked her if she would consider me and she came back a couple of days later and she said she would love it if I played the part."

Hathaway's role required her to sing on camera, but the Les Miserables star's performance was a little too good for her character, so Barker-Froyland had to ask the actress to rein in her talents.

She says, "My character, she went through something rough when she was a teenager, she lost her father, and I think that kind of forced her into an early adult role, so I had to come up with the voice of someone who maybe had musical talent but had never explored it because she was busy focusing on being responsible and doing everything right."