The key to any good onscreen romance is a certain level of chemistry between the lead actors, so it comes as no surprise that "One Day" stars Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess were asked to do a chemistry read before they were cast in their weepy romance. But what exactly is a chemistry read? Considering many actors have never met before auditioning—as was the case with the "One Day" leads—MTV News was curious what type of process went into discovering if they had that certain something. It turns out it's a bit more complex than it might seem.
"It's when they sort of put you in room like a blind date and they just watch to sort of see if chemistry sort of flies off you and attaches itself to the other person," Jim explained before his leading lady butted it.
"[They look at] what color the chemistry is assuming that there is chemistry, and then they run that chemistry color through a lab and there's an algorithm that they plug it into and if that chemistry equals the box office Do Re Mi, then maybe you will get the part," Anne dead-panned.
"The Dark Knight Rises" actress continued to tease MTV News' Josh Horowitz, saying that there was no food on the set because the production behind "One Day" spent all their money on this complex "chemistry test." Jim tossed in his own two cents, saying that this was "the only chemistry test I've ever passed."
All joking aside, Anne said she wasn't a big fan of having meetings to determine chemistry and much preferred straight auditions. It's a question she's been asked frequently during press rounds, and she seems to think that people are missing the point of how a spark between two characters is portrayed in movies.
"We had chemistry because our characters had chemistry. We happen to like each other in real life, but if you can act you can have chemistry with someone," she explained.
So what would have happened had Jim and Anne not been able to hit it off early on in filming? Turns out they had some back-up plans for that.
"I actually had a bullet point presentation ready to go," Anne joked of preparing for the two of them to have sparks fly.
Jim added, "I, on the other hand, was in the bathroom trying to muster up some sort of chemistry."
That earned a laugh from Anne, who said, "You muster very well, by the way."
Are we the only ones affected by how adorable this back-and-forth was? Do you think Anne and Jim have good chemistry? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!
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