Anne Hathaway Reveals Verity Book Detail They Had to Keep

And that is where the headboard situation comes into play. As in the novel,Jeremy performs oral sex on Lowen and she covers the sound of her orgasm by biting the headboard, hoping to make even deeper marks into the wood than Verity’s older, still prominent bites.

So, it was an unforgettable experience for Hathaway, who quipped, “I never thought I’d bite a headboard on camera in my life, but that was just a Tuesday.”

Although Harnett didn’t put his own marks into any wood, he did see the pieces that both of his costars munched on.

“I remember going through the prop table at one point and seeing like a series of different pieces of the headboard with different bites on them,” he explained, teasing Johnson and Hathaway that they “must have sat there for a while” biting each prop. 

Although the headboard scene made its way into the film, others had to take a hit. For instance, only a snippet of Lowen sleepwalking, which she has struggled with since childhood, made the cut.

“It’s just not necessarily that interesting to watch someone sleepwalk,” Johnson—also an executive producer on the project—told E!. “There were some really, really cool moments where she ends up outside and it’s very spooky.” 

But Hathaway, Johnson and Harnett knew just how important it was to get the adaptation right.

“Right off the bat, we’re making choices that people are either gonna go with it or not,” the Princess Diaries actress—who is expecting her third baby with husband Adam Schulman— explained. “The house might not look exactly the way in your head when you read the book. For a lot of people, Verity is a blonde. So, you just kind of hope that people will go with your version of it and let it be its own thing.”

And they were grateful the initial reception was so positive.

“We shot this January of 2025 through March of 2025 and it was so wonderful to have the first wave of audiences see it and have them tell us that they loved what we did,” Hathaway reflected. “They thought that we got the spirit of the book correct and that’s been a real relief.”

For everything to know about the Verity adaptation before it hits theaters Oct. 2, keep reading.