Anne Hathaway lends her melodious voice to Jewel, the last female blue macaw, in the animated movie Rio. Jewel is fiercely independent, and she adores her jungle home. She can't bear the thought of being caged for any reason. When she first meets Blu (voice of Jesse Eisenberg), she is not too impressed. But, her heart begins to soften as she gets to know the brainy bird from Minnesota.
Surprisingly, Rio is Anne Hathaway's singing debut in the world of film. Director Carlos Saldanha had to convince her to sing as Jewel. At a press conference in L.A. she related:
"This man can get me to do anything. Every time I would come in to work he would show me more footage, and it was just breathtaking. It really was, so then when he says, 'Well, now can you sing?' I can't say anything but yes, but it is intimidating to sing in front of Sergio and Will.i.am, as I'm sure you can imagine."
You can tell when you hear her amazing soprano voice that she isn't completely new to singing, though. In addition to her many other talents, recognitions and awards, her bio reveals that she performed in two concerts at Carnegie Hall as a member of the All-Eastern U.S. High School Honors Chorus.
