A fun story with a lot of heart

Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway star in the upcoming heartwarming comedy Bride Wars that follows two best friends who set their respective wedding dates only to find that they’ve both chosen the same date. The two go to war when it turns out that neither wants to give up the date.

Hudson sparked to the idea of warring brides, as presented to her several years ago in Greg DePaul’s story and draft screenplay. Believing that the notion provided an opportunity to take a unique, irreverent look at women, Hudson decided not only to take on one of the leading roles in what came to be called Bride Wars, but to make it her producing debut.

“I really wanted to do a movie that was about women pushing the comedic envelope,” says Hudson. “And what better setting to see this happen, than a wedding. I love this kind of comedy and enjoyed seeing how far we could take the humor. It’s a fun story that also has a lot of heart.”

Hudson embraced the responsibilities of producing a major motion picture, likening them to the challenges faced by her on-screen character, Liv Lerner, who confronts problems head-on, and knows how to get things done. “(As a producer) I got to be Liv — bringing together everyone on the production, creating a family of filmmakers, and letting everyone do what they do best,” comments the newly-minted hyphenate.

But for a while, says Julie Yorn, who joins Hudson as a producer on Bride Wars, the filmmakers were undecided about which role Hudson should take. “Eventually, we realized that there is so much in the part of Liv that is true to Kate’s personality, we began to craft the role specifically for her.”

Enter Hathaway, who came aboard the project long before cameras began rolling, to portray Emma. The two characters couldn’t be closer, as friends — but further apart in temperament. “I think Emma has gone through life a little too passively,” says Hathaway, who recently starred as Agent 99 in the smash comedy Get Smart, and in an acclaimed performance as the troubled sister-of-the-bride in Rachel’s Wedding.

“Emma is a really nice, loyal friend, and somebody very comfortable standing in the background,” Hathaway continues. “But when her wedding day is threatened, she is willing to fight for it. For the first time in her life, she wants to be ‘number-one.’ Emma discovers her backbone and her darker side. In the end, she learns that she can honor both aspects of her personality.”

“We knew we found the perfect Emma in Anne,” says Yorn. “Anne has a quality of innocence that complements Kate’s personality. We were lucky to find two actors who have such lovely, likable qualities but who convince us that their on-screen characters can do such awful things to each other. And we still love them. There is something about Kate’s smile and Anne’s soulful eyes that are impossible not to forgive.”

Hudson notes that Liv’s journey is very different from her friend’s. “Liv needs a mirror put up to her, to make Liv realize that her own aggressive behavior had spilled into her life way before the wedding, and that it was time to share a little bit. So both women are made stronger.”

As Hudson oversaw additional work on the script, the story evolved from focusing on the “wars,” to spending more time on Liv and Emma’s complex and deep friendship. It was decided to have the two women share, since childhood, the dream of a perfect wedding; this element created more opportunities for character-developed and story-based humor.

Hudson and Hathaway, who didn’t know each other prior to teaming up on the film, became fast friends — and fans of each other. “We’re both opinionated women,” says Hathaway. “So it was really fun picking each other’s brains about the characters.

Bride Wars opens tomorrow in theaters nationwide.