She can convey joy with a smile as infectious as spring. She can be raw and gripping as she was in Modern Love. Anne Hathaway is now bringing to life a real-life personality who has been misunderstood. As the world was looking for another Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk, we were given Adam Neumann, the co-founder of WeWork, the start-up that was once valued at more than $47b but then it crashed. Supporting Adam all the way has been his wife Rebekah. And capturing the life of Adam and Rebekah is the new Apple TV+ series called WeCrashed, which is set to premiere on March 18. Playing Adam is Jared Leto while Anne plays the role of Rebekah. Here’s what the 39-year-old actress told us over video call.

Rebekah was the person who encouraged Adam to keep moving on. Do you think he would have succeeded without him?

Not only do I agree that I think Adam wouldn’t have been able to do it without her, I think Adam will be the first person to say that. He would mean it. I think Rebekah was absolutely crucial in his development as a successful entrepreneur, she was the person to get him to focus; got him to share his vision, and I think she was responsible for giving him a lot of the language that he used initially to connect with people.

Why do you think we are interested in people like Adam and Rebekah?
We are all fascinated by charismatic people and people who have that strange ability to make other people do what they want. There is also something about living in the time when we have never been so globally connected. If you are someone who is charismatic and if you do connect with a lot of people, that’s a very powerful thing. Given the timing that we are living through — late-stage capitalism — people are looking to invest in this. It doesn’t surprise me to see this happening again and again.

When the problems around WeWork were coming through in the media, there was a lot of focus on Rebekah and some painted her as weird. The good thing about the series is that it shows why she reacted in a certain way and her internal struggles are portrayed. What was it to look at that aspect of the story?

Whenever I play a character, whether or not it’s a real person, I always have to be very mindful that I don’t judge them. That won’t help me play them and it’s best not to judge people in real life. In this case, I was very lucky to speak to a lot of people who knew Rebekah. Based on media references of her, I kind of knew what to expect from speaking with these people. The word almost everyone used to describe her is “sweet”. I was so surprised to hear that and that got me thinking she is a very complex person and I felt a greater resolve to just — on a human-to-human level — give her the dimensionality that she does have, to kind of respect the truth where it lay, to honour the fact that the behaviour was what it was and the outcome of the story is what it is, to embrace her good intentions because when you speak to people, you keep hearing that she is sincere and that she didn’t mean everything she said.

Assume the best of a person when they make a decision, assume that there is a good reason why they are doing things that they are doing. Don’t leap to a harsh judgment about someone — Anne Hathaway

Taking that forward, what kind of research work did you do?

It is a combination of things. I worked with a wonderful researcher named Amy Hammond and I have worked with her on several projects. She was integral in making me understand the world Rebekah comes from because it’s a world that I glimpse now and then. It is not a world that I was born into and some of the things from that world may seem — if you are not from that world — heightened. If you are born into that world, it won’t appear strange. I really wanted to understand what her normal was.

How was it working with Jared Leto?

It was so much fun. I knew that Jared and I would get along because we have a nice rapport. But we didn’t get too much time together. In the sense, he was never himself on the set. He was always Adam. Jared is an immersive actor and so he stayed in character the entire time but even within that character I was treated with complete sweetness, total support. As important as was his performance to him, he also ensured that my performance also mattered to him just as much. Even without a lot of chit-chat between takes, we constantly communicated. I was so inspired by the work he was doing that it made me give everything I had in order to represent this very real love that exist between Adam and Rebekah.

What are your thoughts on Rebekah’s WeGrow (the education programme of WeWork)?

I think it is clear from all of Rebekah’s pursuits that she really wanted to be an agent of positive change, whether or not she succeeded in that is not really for me to comment. I think the results have spoken for themselves. It is very important to remember that these are people who are currently living and they may go on to do other things in their lives. In terms of WeGrow, she was seeking an alternative to solely focus on the intellect that she wanted to focus on.

The concept of winning at life kind of scares me. I am not really someone who believes in existence through conquering, I am just very grateful and curious. Whatever that’s going on, if you have peace and gratitude inside you… that can be considered winning

Anne Hathaway

What is the game of life like for Anne Hathaway?

By not thinking that life is a game. The concept of winning at life kind of scares me. I am not really someone who believes in existence through conquering, I am just very grateful and curious. Whatever that’s going on, if you have peace and gratitude inside you… that can be considered winning.

Rebekah is a businesswoman but also a responsible mother of five. Are the issues Rebekah face are issues faced by most women worldwide?

I think you have to strain to compare the two. Most women don’t have the resources that Rebekah has and I think life would be much more of a struggle for most.

You have many episodes to develop your character. Did that make you approach your role differently than you may have if this were a movie?

There is a lot of trust in this series and I am lucky to have had worked with Lee and Drew (show creators Lee Eisenberg and Drew Crevello). Not only are they wonderfully talented but they are true to their word. Everything they said they would do with Rebekah, they did, which turned out to be important because when I signed on, I had read only a handful of episodes, the entire series hadn’t been written yet. I have never signed up for a film project where I haven’t been able to read the entire script. I am also grateful that they invited me into the collaboration process. They allowed me to have my influence on the character and how she got there.

Do you ever think how the real Rebekah may receive the show?

I was just very focussed on making sure that I was fair. I told the truth. When I was researching Rebekah, I focussed a lot on her spiritual life because she was open about how significant that was to her as a person. We don’t touch upon in the series, but Kabbalah was very important to her for a period in her life. While reading books around Kabbalah I came across this phrase: “Judge all people favourably.” What that means to me is to see people as they are, to see behaviour for what it is. Assume the best of a person when they make a decision, assume that there is a good reason why they are doing things that they are doing. Don’t leap to a harsh judgment about someone. I ensured that I was making an interpretation of Rebekah according to that outlook.

How do you feel about the storyline around Elishia (played by America Ferrera; Elishia is a brilliant young entrepreneur whose life is turned upside down)?

That whole storyline was so heartbreaking for me. Just because it would be very difficult to judge whether people would be friends or not because of you or who you are married to. I had a lot of compassion for that storyline.

WeCrashed will go on air on AppleTV+ on March 18