For whatever reason, people used to think it was cool to hate Anne Hathaway. The former Princess of Genovia went from being a darling to fans to being someone people really hated to see winning and there was no real reason for that other than she was a successful woman.
In recent years, the public’s perception of her has shifted back in her favor. When she won her Academy Award for playing Fantine in Les Misérables, there were countless articles written about her energy and whatever little thing seemed to irk audiences. Now, as she is promoting two movies (The Idea of You and Mother’s Instinct), Hathaway has opened up about what the “Hathahate” did to her career.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Hathaway talks about what the unnecessary hate did to her career. “A lot of people wouldn’t give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online,” she said. But one thing that helped her career was her collaboration with director and writer Christopher Nolan.
The two had worked together on The Dark Knight Rises prior to the baffling shift on Hathaway but the film released within the same year as Les Misérables. But Nolan would, according to Hathaway, come to her rescue. They would work together again on Interstellar in 2014, which helped to change the perception of Hathaway.
“I had an angel in Christopher Nolan, who did not care about that and gave me one of the most beautiful roles I’ve had in one of the best films that I’ve been a part of,” Hathaway told Vanity Fair. “I don’t know if he knew that he was backing me at the time, but it had that effect. And my career did not lose momentum the way it could have if he hadn’t backed me.”
She went on to talk about feeling humiliated at the time when everyone seemingly turned on her. “Humiliation is such a rough thing to go through,” she said. “The key is to not let it close you down. You have to stay bold, and it can be hard because you’re like, ‘If I stay safe, if I hug the middle, if I don’t draw too much attention to myself, it won’t hurt.’ But if you want to do that, don’t be an actor. You’re a tightrope walker. You’re a daredevil. You’re asking people to invest their time and their money and their attention and their care into you. So you have to give them something worth all of those things. And if it’s not costing you anything, what are you really offering?”
Could this “Hathahate” have contributed to her Oscar snub for Interstellar?
Interstellar was yet another Christopher Nolan movie that was completely ignored by the Academy and it does feel intentional. Especially since many consider Interstellar to be one of his best movies. An exploration of the human condition, grief, and connection, there were so many performances within this film that were worthy of recognition and yet nothing.
Many, myself included, feel like Anne Hathaway should have been recognized for her work as Brand. It’s also, in my opinion, Matthew McConaughey’s best work. Still, nothing for them. Given the backlash from the previous time Hathaway won an Academy Award, could this have been their way of leaning into that “Hathahate” train?
We don’t know but seeing Hathaway come out on the better end of this situation, where she did nothing wrong, makes me proud to have been her fan through it all.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
