Anne Hathaway wanted to quit Mother Mary after seeing early footage

Anne Hathaway has admitted that she wanted to quit Mother Mary after seeing early footage of herself singing and dancing.

In David Lowery's psychological supernatural drama, The Devil Wears Prada actress plays Mother Mary, a pop star clearly inspired by Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, who visits her former best friend and costume designer after 10 years of estrangement.

Reflecting on the shoot in an interview with ELLE Magazine, Hathaway admitted the early footage of her performing as Mother Mary was so "bad" that she wanted to leave the project.

"This is really bad... I don't know that I can ask people to come to see this," she recalled thinking, before sharing that she went home and told her husband Adam Shulman that she was going to quit.

However, she decided to stick it out, adding, "I came to the conclusion that there would be no shame if I was fired, but there would be if I quit."

The Princess Diaries star worked hard to improve her singing and dancing. She took dance lessons for months and continued to work on her singing long after the film had finished production.

A year later, she returned to the studio and re-recorded Mother Mary's songs with the help of producer/co-writer Jack Antonoff.

Recalling his reaction to her improved vocals, she said, "He whipped his head at me (and) goes, 'You have been working.'"

Mother Mary was the first of five Hathaway projects to come to cinemas this year, and it was swiftly followed by The Devil Wears Prada 2.

The Oscar-winning actress admitted she was a "mess" on the set of the first film and was "really scared" and "harsh with (herself)" at 22, so she was glad to have a do-over with the sequel.

"You know how you'll have certain memories or times in your life that you wish you could revisit because you're like, 'God, I wish I could go back there and be the person that I am now and know what I know now.' That's what it was like," she shared. "So it was exciting to get to go back and say thank you, and show all the work that I've done on myself and just aim to be an absolute delight every day."

Hathaway will also be seen in The Odyssey, The End of Oak Street and Verity later this year.