Anne Hathaway Terrified Josh Hartnett with a Surprise “Verity” Set Prank: ‘She Hissed at Me’

Rebecca AizinThu, October 1, 2026 at 3:24 PM UTC

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Josh Hartnett and Anne Hathaway at the “Verity” New York Premiere, Central Park boathouse on Sept. 29, 2026Credit: Dave Allocca/Starpix/Shutterstock -

Josh Hartnett says Anne Hathaway pranked him while he rehearsed a scene with Dakota Johnson for Verity

Hartnett said the private scare was more frightening than anything he filmed for the thriller

Verity, adapted from Colleen Hoover’s novel, arrives in theaters Oct. 2

Josh Hartnett is no stranger to thrillers and horror movies, but it was a silly prank from costar Anne Hathaway that gave him his biggest fright in a decade.

The actors star in Verity, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel of the same name. Hartnett, 48, plays Jeremy, the husband of Hathaway’s acclaimed author Verity, 43. When ghostwriter Lowen (Dakota Johnson) is hired to finish Verity’s latest work, she discovers she may have signed up for more than she bargained for.

During an interview with IMDb, the cast was asked which moments on set made them the most uncomfortable. For Hartnett, it wasn’t any particular scene — it was a prank Hathaway pulled on him.

Anne Hathaway stars as Verity Crawford and Josh Hartnett as Jeremy Crawford in director Michael Showalter’s VERITYCredit: Alisha Wetherill/Amazon MGM Studios

Hartnett explained that the prank happened while he was filming a kitchen scene with Johnson, 36, in which Lowen thinks she spots Verity while making out with Jeremy. After Lowen sends Jeremy away, Hartnett walked down a hallway — where Hathaway was waiting to surprise him.

“Annie wasn’t even supposed to be there that day; she jumped out from behind a corner...and she hissed at me,” he said. “It was the most terrifying moment of the last 10 years of my life.”

Laughing, Hathaway explained that she was on set trying to figure out how she’d disappear from the camera view quickly enough for it to happen in one shot, unbeknownst to Hartnett.

Josh Hartnett, Dakota Johnson and Anne Hathaway attend Amazon MGM Studios’ “Verity” New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square 13 on September 29, 2026Credit: Cindy Ord/WireImage

“I found this little alcove, and I was pressed up in it, and Josh was rehearsing his part of the scene, the walk down, and he was so locked in and focused that I was like he has no idea I’m here,” Hathaway said of the scare. “I thought I can’t jump out and scream because that’ll scare too many people; it has to be a very private scare just for Josh. So I just waited until he passed me and I just went, [hissing sounds].”

Hartnett joked that Hathaway making her hissing quieter just for him made it “so much scarier.”

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“The house is a little bit elevated as well, yes, it has a nice tai chi sort of feel to it, but who knows?” Hartnett said, referring to the house the movie was filmed in, which was set deep in the woods and isolated.

“Maybe it could have been haunted,” Hathaway chimed in.

The End of Oak Street actress added that what was funniest to her was Hartnett’s reaction after the fact. She described how he put his hands up, almost bracing himself to face a real threat before processing it was just her.

“What was cracking me up was Josh then reacted and stared at me and said, ‘You just scared me. I haven’t been scared like that in years,’ ” she said, before turning to him, “You narrated it so articulately from your place of nervous system-overwhelmed terror.”

Directed by Michael Showalter, Verity follows Lowen Ashleigh, “a struggling writer who relocates to the remote Crawford estate to ghostwrite for Verity. After Lowen uncovers what appears to be Verity’s chilling autobiographical notes, she wrestles with the disturbing and twisted confessions about Verity’s husband Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), and finds it hard to separate fiction from reality, manipulation from attraction, and opportunity from obsession,” according to the film’s synopsis.

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Verity is in theaters Oct. 2.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”