The critical resurgence of Anne Hathaway.
Anne Hathaway just doesn’t add up. Firstly, how can someone so supremely talented and beautiful also be so down-to-earth and charming? And what is it about her kindness and warmth that evokes such fury in a small number of online individuals – the unambiguously named Hath-haters? The truth is, the 40-year-old Oscar winner probably is too nice for Hollywood, but it is this combination of steeliness and vulnerability that make her such a compelling performer.
With a career that has involved playing roles such as a Disney princess, Catwoman and a 19th century French pauper, we ought to think twice before trying to place the mercurial star in a box.
“I think versatility is probably the most important thing when it comes to surviving in the movie industry,” she begins. “I am lucky in the sense that I’ve been offered roles that move across various different genres, but also the fact that I’m perhaps too easily bored when it comes to doing the same things all the time.
“I couldn’t ever imagine being one of those actors who is happy to stay as one type of character over the course of a career.”
Versatility in recent years for the New York-born actress has also meant embracing motherhood. Since son Jonathan arrived in the world in March 2016, followed by brother Jack three years later, Hathaway has become regarded as a passionate and caring soul whose greatest role yet is as a mum. By her own admission, it seemed that for someone who had endured more than her fair share of setbacks on the road to building a family with actor, producer and jewellery designer husband Adam Shulman, the end destination was finally worth the journey.
“I did feel as if it was in some way a reward for some of the nasty stuff I had been through,” she says. “Of course, we all have setbacks and challenges, and the world doesn’t differentiate these on how many social media followers you have or how much money you’ve got.
“Yet, for once, I felt like I had something that was totally and completely mine, was flawless and perfect, and that no-one else had a claim on, apart from my partner! My son was beyond the realms of the industry noise and that has been such a perfect, relief-giving feeling.”
With the arrival of children, you immediately sensed that none of the fog that accompanied Tinseltown was ever going to matter again for the actress. In bringing her boys into the world she had discovered purpose and importance far beyond learning lines on a script.
“As a parent, you realise it’s a hard life with a lot of guilt and self-loathing thrown in there, and that puts everything else in perspective,” she says.
“I try not to beat myself up about things I did or didn’t do, about the way I have lost my temper… but it is very difficult, and I think I am improving. It’s a journey; a journey I want to slow down.”
Professionally though, Hathaway cannot stop. This year, she returns with romantic comedy She Came to Me, psychological drama Mothers’ Instinct and Amazon production The Idea of You.
It all adds up to the amiable Hathaway looking set to reach her most creative point yet, despite the rigours of home life… and that’s saying something for someone who has clocked up more than 60 movies across a 20-year service to the industry.
“There is no set process, per say, but I think the best scripts are those that I read and really can’t work out.
“It’s about choosing stuff that, in whatever way, pushes the boundaries of filmmaking… so trippy, totally left of centre – the sort of thing that will make me fall back in love with why I do this… something that teleports me to another, visceral experience.
“If I can find that in what I do, I’m happy!”
