‘Her legacy influences my life’: Anne Hathaway, 39, says it is an ‘honour’ to portray a Jewish mother in Armageddon Time as she remembers her later mother-in-law

Speaking during a press conference at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, she said: ‘My mother-in-law, who passed away recently, was simply the greatest Jewish mother I’ve ever seen. Her legacy my life in profound ways that I am truly, truly grateful for.

‘The hand of a Jewish mother will guide the rest of my life, if I have done one thing and it is to capture that love, I honestly won’t even attempt to put it into words.

‘That’s why I am so grateful to cinema because it allows you to say things without words.’

Project: Anne, who stars as Esther Graff in the upcoming period drama, has said that she was ‘so grateful to cinema’ for allowing her to capture that love she experienced (Anne pictured alongside Anthony Hopkins and Michael Banks Repeta on the film set)

Anne’s character in the film aspires to run for the local school board but her attempts are hindered by her own son’s behaviour.

Development on Armageddon Time was initially announced in 2019, when it was revealed that director James Gray would be writing and directing the feature.

The semi-autobiographical film will be centred on the filmmaker’s experience at the Kew-Forest School in Queens, New York, where former president Donald Trump was an alumnus.

Honour: She said: ‘The hand of a Jewish mother will guide the rest of my life, if I have done one thing and it is to capture that love, I honestly won’t even attempt to put it into words’ (pictured with producer James Gray)

Gratitude: She added: ‘That’s why I am so grateful to cinema because it allows you to say things without words’

Looking good! Earlier in the day, Anne cut a sophisticated figure in an eye-catching boucle shirt dress as she exited her hotel

Happy: She was also seen chatting to her husband Alex on the hotel’s balcony

James explained: ‘My memory of it, at least as a 12-year-old, at the time, was that… Muhammad Ali was a big hero of mine and he lost in a very humiliating fashion to Larry Holmes that fall.

‘And a few months later John Lennon was murdered and Ronald Reagan became president. And my mother would say ‘There’s going to be a nuclear war.

‘She’d constantly say that. And a feeling of Armageddon was just sitting on the family.

‘It was also the beginning of a market is god idea where if you look at the rise of inequality, and that is a world issue, really, it began about 1979, 1980. It’s an inflection point in history that I think it’s quite underrated.’

Couple: The actress, who married actor and producer Adam Shulman in 2012, spoke of how much it meant to the couple to be able to represent their family (pictured together in Cannes)

Producer Rodrigo Teixeira previously spoke to Variety and briefly spoke about the inspiration behind the semi-autobiographical film.

‘It’s a personal story for James. You have the whole world of the Trumps dealing with that school and the students who go to that school,’ he said.

Teixeira added, ‘James is back in the independent world with this film.’

Earlier in the day, Anne looked nothing short of sensational as she stepped out in Cannes at the Armageddon Time photocall.

Plot: The semi-autobiographical film will be centered on the filmmaker’s experience at the Kew-Forest School in Queens, New York (pictured with her co-star Jeremy Strong, right)

Tough times: Anne’s character in the film aspires to run for the local school board but her attempts are hindered by her own son’s behaviour (Played by Michael Banks Repeta, right, on set with Jaylin Webb, left)

The actress wowed in a leggy sparkly black mini dress with a blue PVC bustier for her show-stopping appearance.

Anne flaunted her toned legs in the thigh-skimming number which had a skirt adorned with silver sparkles and a top half with a pointy bustier.

She teamed the dress with silver heels to boost her height and wore cream cat-eye sunglasses and toted a suede navy Gucci bag.

The beauty wore he long brunette tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for a glamorous makeup look for her day out, complete with a slick of light pink lip.

Group: Earlier in the day, Anne looked nothing short of sensational as she stepped out in Cannes with Jeremy Strong (left) and James (centre)