The New York Times has published the Modern Love column weekly for 15 years, a space where readers of the Big Apple tell their experiences with love in all its forms . This is romantic, but also sexual, platonic, to the family, among friends or even to oneself ... When it begins, when it ends or when one is forced to say goodbye ...

Coinciding with the anniversary of Modern Love , Amazon Prime Video has created a homonymous series that tells eight of these stories with a luxury cast headed by Anne Hathaway , which premieres this Friday on the streaming platform. The e-commerce giant has also published a book where he collects these and other stories about love. Synergies of today's world.

Oscar winner for her work on Les Misérables , Hathaway stars in the third chapter of the series, titled Take me as I am , in the role of Lexi, a successful lawyer who has hidden her bipolar disorder throughout her life to your potential sentimental partners. "I am very excited to be part of this story, especially after talking with Terri Cheney . She is the basis for my character. After her column she wrote a book titled Manic where she tells what her life is like as a bipolar woman. She really opened my eyes ", says Hathaway, who talks with THE WORLD in the middle of her second son's pregnancy with fellow actor Adam Shulman .

"I think that love has always been the same in the sense of the instinct of who you love, but many people have not had space to express it. It is difficult to concentrate on the love in your heart when they persecute you, when your life is threatened for being who you are or if you are stigmatized, "continues the actress explaining the fact of interpreting a person with a mental illness. "I think the modern [of the title] is the world and that offers a greater space for different stories to be told," says the 36-year-old actress, known for her roles in brochures such as Princess by surprise , Young Jane Austen , Guerra Brides , Love and other drugs or Always the same day .

"When I started my career, if you were talking about a romantic comedy you were talking about a boy, you know a girl , the boy needs this girl, so the boy gets the girl. Twenty years later you can put the story you want there. So I'm grateful to be able to play a role that expands the stories that can be told and allows more people to feel represented . Also, being based on real stories this series is much more inclusive, "says Hathaway.

As an actress, "the greatest difficulty was moving from the extremely high moments to the low of my character," he confesses. In fact, the highs are so extraordinary that Lexi, narrator of the entire chapter, feels like a Hollywood star to the point of starring in a short musical number in a supermarket where she knows, among the peaches of the fruit aisle, the possible Man of his dreams. And the basses are so disabling that you can barely get out of bed.

"It was a lot of fun to do the musical number. But that day in New York the temperatures were below zero, it was very windy and we recorded near the East River in Brooklyn. We didn't know if we were going to get it, but John said, one more take" and The miracle was done. "No one complained, all the dancers gave their best and what you see is what we recorded in that last shot," says Hathaway, who adds with laughter: " All the joy of the screen is an absolute lie ."

John, by the way, is John Carney , creator of the musical trilogy Once , Begin Again and Sing Street , and creator of Modern Love as well as the screenwriter and director of most of the chapters. The series also addresses an appointment that ends in a hospital, a mature couple who decides to go to therapy, a young woman facing an unexpected pregnancy or a gay couple who wants to adopt a baby. Tina Fey ( 30 Rock ), John Slattery ( Mad Men ), Andy Garcia ( The Godfather III ), Dev Pattel ( Slumdog Millionaire ), Cristin Milioti ( How I Met Your Mother ) or Andrew Scott ( Sherlock ) complete the cast of the series .

In relation to the fine borders of the audiovisual of the 21st century and the anthological format of this series, of eight self-closing chapters of just over half an hour, Hathaway comments: "The most innovative thing is that I don't know if it is television or a short film. that streaming services offer something in between. " And he goes on to explain how, in his opinion, these comedies are leaving the big screen to take refuge on television. "I don't know if the audience necessarily has the patience to go to the movies and sit and watch a movie about romantic love. It doesn't seem like we're in that phase now , although that doesn't mean we're not going back, but love continues being part of all the stories. We love to see something that makes us feel good, that makes us cry ", especially in the comfort of the sofa, he points out, despite the prejudices that, he admits, weigh on this genre.

"I think people are very binary, or are you in favor or are against it. Everything is black or white and what the public considers serious art is not romantic comedy when in reality it is very difficult to make a romantic comedy that is satisfactory, that is not ñoña, that makes you feel good and that does not demand too much, ”says Hathaway to conclude:“ I like to tell stories and I like good stories, whether they are horror or romantic comedies that end well ”.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

    Fall 2019The essential series to watch this fall

    Emmy Awards: Game of Thrones, in pursuit of a memorable goodbye

    TelevisiónHBO regains the throne of the platforms