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Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson improvised a key erotic scene in the Colleen Hoover adaptation Verity, director Michael Showalter told Variety. Interviews also covered rehearsals for the book’s headboard bite scene and an unscripted waltz by Hathaway.
Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson improvised a scene in Verity, the new film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, director Michael Showalter told Variety. The disclosure is one of several behind-the-scenes details — including rehearsals for the book’s headboard-bite scene and an unscripted waltz by Hathaway — that have emerged as the cast promotes the Amazon MGM Studios release.
The improvised moment grew out of a hug in Hoover’s book between Lowen Ashleigh (Johnson) and Jeremy Crawford (Josh Hartnett). Showalter told Variety the scene had the potential to be “something very sexually charged” — “grief that then turns erotic,” as he described it. According to the director, Hathaway and Johnson proposed that the makeout session shift from Hartnett’s character to Hathaway’s Verity mid-scene.
“It really evolved into Anne and Dakota saying, ‘What if while she’s making out with him, it turns into [Anne]?'” Showalter told Variety. “And me going, ‘If you want to do that, yeah.'” He added that Johnson’s instinct — “‘I’m just going to sit on your lap and start kissing you'” — felt like “the beginning of something that felt transgressive.”
Johnson, speaking to Out magazine, described filming the intimate scenes as “very technical, but obviously incredibly enjoyable.” Hartnett told the same outlet the trio kept things light between takes: “The sexual scenes were a little bit goofy when we weren’t filming.” In a separate interview with Extra TV, Johnson said of kissing Hathaway: “I would kiss Annie for the rest of my life. Every day.”
Why the Improvisation Matters for Verity
Verity adapts a novel by Colleen Hoover, whose readership contributed to strong box-office results for the 2023 adaptation of It Ends With Us. Changes to and departures from book moments — such as the improvised kiss — are a factor in how that audience may respond to the adaptation.
The film also carries commercial stakes for its stars and studio. Hathaway told Yahoo’s Hollywood+ the film “was designed to thrill audiences” and said she hopes viewers “scream” and “dress up” for screenings. Johnson described it as “a fun movie to go to the movie theater to see.”
The Story Behind the Adaptation
Verity adapts Hoover’s novel of the same name. Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer who accepts an offer from Jeremy Crawford (Hartnett) to ghostwrite the final book in his wife’s series after an accident leaves author Verity Crawford (Hathaway) in a vegetative state. Lowen’s discovery of a hidden manuscript leads her to suspect Verity may be responsible for a horrific crime.
Hathaway has said the ending was crafted to be “ambiguous but not vague” — a creative choice the cast has discussed in promotion, and one that readers have focused on given the book’s unresolved central question.
“It really evolved into Anne and Dakota saying, ‘What if while she’s making out with him, it turns into [Anne]?’ And me going, ‘If you want to do that, yeah.'”
— Michael Showalter, director, to Variety
What the Interviews Don’t Reveal
The interviews do not specify when audiences will see each improvised moment in the finished film, or how much of the improvised material was retained in the final cut versus the scripted version. Showalter’s comments confirm the scene was proposed and shot, but the degree of on-screen deviation from Hoover’s original hug scene is known only from his description.
It also remains unclear how the film resolves — or deliberately leaves unresolved — the book’s central mystery. Hathaway’s stated hope for an ending that is “ambiguous but not vague” describes intent, not outcome, and full plot changes from the novel have not been detailed by the studio.
Verity’s Release and Audience Reaction
The film is set for release through Amazon MGM Studios, with promotion continuing across cast interviews and press appearances. The next milestones are the film’s debut, first audience reactions — particularly from Hoover’s reader fanbase — and box-office or streaming performance comparisons with prior Hoover adaptations.
Additional behind-the-scenes details, including Hathaway’s account of the unscripted waltz into bed suggested by Showalter on set, may surface as the press tour continues.
Key Questions
Did Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson improvise a scene together in Verity?
Yes, according to director Michael Showalter, who told Variety the actors proposed that a makeout scene between Johnson and Josh Hartnett’s characters shift to Hathaway’s Verity mid-scene.
Is the headboard bite from the book in the movie?
Yes. Hathaway told E! News the moment was translated from the novel and extensively rehearsed, with Hartnett noting he saw multiple test headboards with different bite marks.
What is Verity about?
It adapts Colleen Hoover’s novel about Lowen Ashleigh, a writer hired to finish a bestselling author’s series after Verity Crawford is left in a vegetative state — and Lowen’s growing suspicion that Verity committed a horrific crime.
Who stars in and directs Verity?
The film stars Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett, and is directed by Michael Showalter for Amazon MGM Studios.
Does the movie change the book’s ambiguous ending?
That remains unclear. Hathaway said the goal was an ending that is “ambiguous but not vague,” but full details of how the film handles the book’s unresolved mystery have not been disclosed.
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