By AMANDA MEADE

Scene/Mix Editor

A woman’s wedding is usually one of the best days of her life. For a woman taking part in her best friend’s wedding is sometimes just as great.

The new movie “Bride Wars” depicts both of these occasions.

For best friends Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anne Hathaway), their special days were going to be that much more special since they were taking part in each other’s wedding.

That is until they discovered both of their weddings were booked on the same day.

All hell breaks loose as the two are determined to get married when and where they want, and refuse to make any compromises.

Hudson and Hathaway took part in a college conference call that included The Oakland Post on Dec. 5, 2008.

The inner bridezilla

Both actresses were able to understand how a bride’s mind worked and it wasn’t hard for them to play the part.

“I tapped into my inner bridezilla by watching some of my friends go through some stuff, and understanding the stress of it myself when I got married,” Hudson said.

 “I think the other thing is just, as females we get really worked up. We’re very emotional creatures,” Hudson said.

Hathaway has never been married and credited the script with helping her to better understand her character’s situation.

“The script was so great in providing a logical emotional backstory for the characters to explain why they go off the deep end the way that they do,” Hathaway said.

Hudson said she enjoyed being able to poke fun at how crazy women could get at times like these.

“I think girls get crazy, but we can also laugh at ourselves really well,” Hudson said. “We don’t get the opportunity to do that very often in movies, so it was really fun to be able to do it with something as important as your wedding day.”

Attempted sabatoge

Throughout the movie, the two former friends do everything they can do to ruin the other’s big day.

“I think my favorite [prank] she pulled, because it was the meanest, was the weight gain. That’s low,” Hathaway said. “I know how hard I have to work to lose that last five pounds, so to kind of mess with that I think is wrong.”

In the movie, Hudson’s character decides to give Hathaway’s a little more than she asked for while trying to get a bit of color for her wedding.

“I have to say the tanning salon was fun. And part of it was on that day I wore what Liv’s version of a disguise is, and every time we did a take, I’d do a different character,” said Hudson.

“I was a Russian girl, I came down with some weird version of an Eastern European girl. I did a southern belle. I did all sorts of different characters, which hopefully will be on the DVD,” Hudson said.

A little girl’s dream

Hudson said her parents weren’t married when she was growing up.

“We had it so ingrained in us that you didn’t need to sign a piece of paper to say that you’re a family or that you love each other. Then, I meet Chris [Robinson], and I’m like, ‘I’m getting married!'” Hudson said.

“For me it was really more about who was going to be the guy that I would spend the rest of my life with. I was very excited about possibly calling up Vera Wang and seeing what she could do for me,” Hudson said.

Hathaway had other plans, which included a celebrity crush.

“I think that I, in my fantasy, Leonardo DiCaprio and I will meet at some point, and he’ll just see me walking down the street and fall in love with me,” Hathaway said.

“I just assumed that Leo and I would find some kind of happy medium between our two aesthetics, and have a glorious wedding. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, however,” Hathaway said.

The learning process

Both actresses had much to say about each other, from their work ethic, what they learned from one another and personality in general.

“One thing I learned about Annie is that she is absolutely fearless. We’re kind of similar in that way, which is that we’re very open and honest about the things that are going on in our lives,” Hudson said.

“Annie is a tough cookie, and I think I learned that professionalism that goes with living your life and going through things, and showing up,” Hudson said.

Hathaway talked about how she was a fan of Hudson prior to working with her.

“One of the things that I learned from Kate was Kate does something which is so incredibly rare in an actress, which is they are able to find the balance between being professional and having fun,” Hathaway said.

“Kate just — without sacrificing any of the work, without taking it any less seriously than anyone else — manages to just bring a sense of fun to absolutely everything,” Hathaway said.

“Bride Wars” hits theaters Jan. 9. Find out more at www.bridewars.com.