Les Miserables, indeed.

Much has been made of Anne Hathaway**'s drastic make-under for her role in Tom Hooper's movie adaptation of the epic Broadway musical -- she dropped 25 pounds from her already-slim frame and cut her brunette locks into a severe pixie cut -- but she says the real transformation was emotional, not physical.

"I was a witch," the 29-year-old Golden Globe nominee told Chelsea Handler of shooting the drama, in which she plays a prostitute dying of tuberculosis. "I mean, I was dealing with a lot of darkness and I was starving. So I just wasn't that much fun to be around."

In fact, she says it's "a miracle" her relationship with now-husband Adam Shulman survived the making of the film in London.

"There was one day when, I kid you not, I picked a fight with him because he wouldn't watch a sunset with me," the actress recalled of the actor and jewelry designer on Handler's show, Chelsea Lately. "I was like, 'Honey, it's the most incredible sunset you've ever seen, we have to go outside right now and see it.' And he was like, 'Honey, I'm on a business call. So just [give me] five minutes.' And I was like, 'Fine. That's great for you.' And I sat there, and I didn't even make it the whole five minutes. I just got up."

Eventually, Hathaway had to actually send Shulman back to the U.S. while she finished shooting in London, because she felt she couldn't really get into her role while he was still around -- and because she didn't want her "manic" mood swings to ruin their four-year romance.

"I realized I was being really unfair to him and that even though I was in a negative place, I couldn't let it affect our relationship," she said. "And also, I needed to go further into that negative place to play my character, and I love him so much that I was like, 'You're making me happy. You're keeping me up and I'm clawing to the sides of my life and I need to fall into a pit and you need to go, honey.'"

Fortunately, their bond survived. Hathaway and Shulman tied the knot in Big Sur, Calif., on Sept. 29, in a private sunset ceremony with about 180 guests.

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Anne Hathaway: "I Was a Witch" to Husband Adam Shulman During Les Miserables Filming