Seth Rogen has revealed that Anne Hathaway exited the 2007 comedy Knocked Up because she was uncomfortable with a graphic childbirth scene, saying the actress felt it did not align with her image.
Speaking on The A24 Podcast alongside his The Invite director and co-star Olivia Wilde, Rogen recalled Hathaway’s departure after Wilde asked: “Because of the crowning right? Is that real?”
“Yeah, I mean… it could have been a hundred million things. That was what I remember being told,” Rogen replied. “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.”
Rogen added that Hathaway made the right decision for herself.
“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.”
Katherine Heigl ultimately took the lead role opposite Rogen in the Judd Apatow-directed comedy. Knocked Up became both a critical and commercial success, earning $219 million worldwide against a reported $25 million budget.
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