Anne Hathaway raps, really (video)

In an appearance on NBC's 'Today' show Thursday morning, to discuss her new movie "One Day," which opens in theaters this Friday, Ann Hathaway spoke with host Matt Lauer.

During the interview Lauer asked Hathaway, "what's with the rapping?"

Referring to her debut as a rapper on the Conan O'Brien Show Tuesday night. She said that her style is modeled after rapper Lil Wayne, and is her way of dealing with the paparazzi and expressing her feelings about the presence of the press in her life. Hathaway is under more scrutiny now after co-hosting the Academy Awards this year, and is playing Catwoman in the next Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, due out in 2012.

 Hathaway explained that she first performed the anti-paparazzi rap song – which she wrote – in front of her friends and got some laughs.

When asked by the producers of the Conan show if Hathaway would perform on air, she said, "yes."

The rap begins: "Yo I’m a paparazzi, I don’t play no yahtzee, I go pop pop pop pop pop.”

Was this a boost for ratings? It's certainly getting passed around as a YouTube video.

It is common for rappers including Eminem, Ice T, and Queen Latifah to move into an acting career, but not so much the reverse. What other actors and actresses is she following by testing out their rap skills?

Joaquin Phoenix comes to mind as one. Phoenix is an American actor who has appeared in such films as "Walk the Line" and "Gladiator." But he has also dipped his toe in the rap music world. In 2009, Phoenix made an appearance, with a new beard, at a Miami nightclub to perform a song from his hip-hop project. He ended up jumping into the audience after being provoked by a heckler.

And Tom Felton, who portrayed Draco Malfoy in all eight of the Harry Potter films, may not have been the best Quidditch player but he has expressed an interest in doing some rapping. The British actor even has his own Youtube channel under the username "Feltbeats." In July, he revealed to the Sun, "I was thinking of doing some N-Dubz-style stuff. I am looking to get into the grime rap UK scene."

Here is to hoping Hathaway will keep her day job for awhile and stick with the big screen.