The casting of Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl in the 2007 comedy “Knocked Up,” was pretty well done. However, she wasn’t the originally casted character to play the female lead. That was Anne Hathaway.
Rogen appeared on “The A24 Podcast” (h/t Variety) while promoting “The Invite” alongside Olivia Wilde. Wilde, who auditioned for the part in “Knocked Up,” didn’t get the job. Which is why this was brought up in the first place.
As the film began rehearsing, Hathaway quit.
“It was Anne Hathaway who quit the movie,” Rogen said.
Apparently, it was widely known, or rumored, that Hathaway quit because of a scene in the movie in which the character, now pregnant, was shown graphically in the midst of giving birth. You get the idea. Wilde had heard the rumor and asked Rogen if that were true.
Seth Rogen Details the Story He Got on Why Anne Hathaway quit “Knocked Up’
GettyRogen said that’s the story he got.
“Yeah, I mean… It could have been a hundred million things. That was what I remember being told,” Rogen said. “Crowning is a tough one. She didn’t want the crowning of the baby to be visually representative. Even though it wasn’t going to be hers… It’s obviously not real. But she didn’t even want … she felt that it was not her brand. Part of me also… we had started rehearsing the movie… maybe she was just like, ‘I don’t know if this is for me.’ I don’t know. I will take what she said at face value, which was the crowning.
“She had a sense, and she knew it was not for her,” Rogen continued. “And history will tell … she has been right about a lot more things than I have over the years. So I think she was probably right. [Heigl] knew what was right for her, yes. And then Heigl was great. Katie Heigl was great.”
Back in 2012, Hathaway told “Allure” magazine her mindset behind turning down the role.
“My issue with it was that having not experienced motherhood myself, I didn’t know how I was gonna feel on the other side about giving birth. And by the way,” she said. “I could pop a kid out and think, Oh, well, I really should have done that movie.”
The Premier of ‘Knocked Up’ Goes Off Without a Hitch
Heigl played a motivated Los Angeles reporter for “E!”, Alison, who celebrated her recent promotion by going out and drinking. That’s where she met Rogen (Ben). Eight weeks later, Alison experiences morning sickness and discovers she’s pregnant. The two begin as casual parents to the baby and ultimately, you guessed it — fall in love.
Throw in a drug-induced time in Las Vegas with Rudd and Rogen, and you have a movie.
The film was rather successful, grossing $219 million worldwide. It also had a funny cast of characters that included Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill and Jason Segel.
Obviously, Hathaway didn’t necessarily need this role, but considering this was 2007 in the infancy of her career, she could have easily taken the gig. Even if it didn’t align with her ultimate goals in acting.
