Back to the Future is one of Hollywood’s most beloved movie franchises, with a lasting legacy that spans across three generations that will only continue to expand thanks to it being readily available at the tip of anyone’s finger. It’s no surprise then to find millennial movie stars that happened to grow up watching Marty McFly’s time travel adventures showing the film some love, as is the case with Anne Hathaway.

However, Hathaway's links now stretch a bit further, as she’s now privileged enough to have worked for Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis in her latest film, The Witches, a new adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel by the same name. As one can imagine, the actress is every bit as thrilled to work with Zemeckis as any Back to the Future fan would be, and she’s not afraid to show it.

In a recent interview with CinemaBlend, Hathaway talked about her love for Back to the Future trilogy, not only from the perspective of watching it over and over again as a kid, but also remarking how working as an actress with Zemeckis made her more appreciative of the film's qualities, considering it “such a beautiful film. It’s so beautifully shot and the layers of it are so great and the editing is just fantastic”.


Hathaway’s casting as the Grand High Witch was met with certain surprise, especially once audiences got a first glimpse of what she looked like when donning the full monstrous look for the character. On that note, Hathaway praised Zemeckis for his ability to get the best out of actors by making them step out of their comfort zone, quoting Bruce Willis and Meryl Streep as examples with their roles in another Zemeckis cult classic, Death Becomes Her.

For those curious to find out, yes, Hathaway’s favorite Back to the Future is the original 1985 installment, though it’s still unclear how she feels about what a potential reboot would do to the franchise. Nevertheless, that part is largely irrelevant after hearing what Bob Gale, who wrote the entire trilogy, thinks of those chances, openly considering that giving in to reboot just to make money would be like “going to sell our kids into prostitution".

The short interview clips available are a treat to watch as one can see the glimmer in Hathaway’s eyes when discussing Back to the Future, which doesn’t make it hard to imagine that working with Zemeckis prompted her, like many of us, to go watch it once again for its 35th anniversary.

The Witches is now streaming on HBO Max.

The Back to the Future trilogy is available for streaming on Netflix..