Exclusive: Verity stars Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett praise "incredible" Anne Hathaway

She's starred in what feels like every other big movie of 2026, so it's no surprise that Anne Hathaway's "work ethic" has earned high praise from her Verity co-stars Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett. Speaking to Digital Spy, they also dubbed her the "kindest" actor.

At tonight's UK gala screening for the upcoming psychological thriller, Johnson told us: "She was incredible. She's so kind and generous and calm, and she works so hard, but she's just wonderful to be around.

"If I were her after this year, I would have collapsed, and she's going to give birth, and that's crazy."

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Hartnett agreed: "I'm amazed at her work ethic, but also just the way she conducts herself professionally. She's just the coolest and most relaxed and kindest actor that you could possibly imagine.

"Because she was a producer as well and she's known Michael [Showalter, director] for a long time, she set the tone for the whole production so everybody had a really chill and fun and kind time on set."

Film-maker Showalter added: "It's awesome. She's amazing. She deserves all of this. She works so hard. She's so passionate. She loves film. She loves collaboration. She loves telling stories. And I couldn't be more thrilled for her."

Verity is Hathaway's fifth - yes, fifth - big release of 2026, following Mother Mary, The End of Oak Street, The Devil Wears Prada 2 and The Odyssey. The latter two rank among the highest-grossing films of 2026.

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This latest venture is adapted from the novel of the same name by Coleen Hoover, and stars Johnson as Lowen Ashleigh, a writer who is tasked with finishing a bestselling series written by Verity Crawford (Hathaway), who has suffered a mysterious accident.

When Verity's husband Jeremy (Hartnett) enlists Lowen for the job, Lowen soon finds herself questioning Verity's psychological wellbeing.

It's a complex tale, and it seems that complexity is what drew Hartnett to the project.

"The themes themselves didn't really resonate with me personally, but I like the idea of having multiple perspectives in film," he told us.

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"Because we live in a world right now where it seems like everybody is coming with their own perspective and being so vehemently and staunchly supportive of their own side without looking at the other side.

"It's nice to know that maybe there are other sides to think about."

Verity is released in cinemas on 2 October.

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Shaun is an Evening News Editor at Digital Spy, with over a decade of experience reporting on all things pop culture. He has written for outlets including Metro, Attitude, Huffington Post, The Mirror, Yahoo!, Pink News and Express Online, specialising in TV, movies, soaps, music and LGBTQ+ issues. He is also a BAFTA Rocliffe-winning scriptwriter, having written episodes of the soap Hollyoaks, the official Steps musical Here & Now and multiple Offie Award-nominated plays. He studied English Literature and Drama at the University of East Anglia, and will happily talk at length about Desperate Housewives to anyone who'll listen.