1. She Shares a Name With Historical Royalty
Her full name, Anne Jacqueline Hathaway, is not a Hollywood stage name. Her parents deliberately named her after the historical Anne Hathaway, who was famously the wife of legendary English playwright William Shakespeare. This historical coincidence has sparked countless internet jokes, especially since Hathaway’s husband, Adam Shulman, bears a striking physical resemblance to portraits of the famous Bard.
2. She Actually Prefers to be Called Annie
Despite being globally famous under the name Anne, she completely dislikes being called by her given first name. During various talk show appearances, she has publicly pleaded with fans and the media to call her Annie. She claims the only person who ever calls her Anne is her mother, and usually only when she is incredibly angry, making the name a source of lingering childhood anxiety.
3. She Originally Wanted to be a Nun
Long before she ever considered standing on a massive Hollywood red carpet, a young Hathaway had a vastly different career path in mind. Raised in a deeply strict Catholic household, she fully intended to become a nun and dedicate her entire life to the church. However, she completely abandoned this path at the age of fifteen after learning her older brother was gay, deciding she could not support a religious institution that did not fully accept her sibling.
4. She Made Theater History as a Teenager
Her acting pedigree is deeply rooted in highly disciplined stage work. Before ever starring in a feature film, Hathaway studied at the prestigious Barrow Group Theater Company in New York City. She was so incredibly talented that she made organizational history by becoming the very first teenager to ever be admitted into their highly exclusive, world-renowned acting program.
5. A Clumsy Audition Won Her the Crown
Her massive breakout role as Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries completely changed her life, and she won the part completely by accident. During her official audition, she was so incredibly nervous that she physically fell off her chair and crashed onto the floor. Director Garry Marshall thought her natural, completely unscripted clumsiness was so absolutely perfect for the awkward character that he hired her almost immediately.
6. She Lied About Riding a Horse
To secure her highly pivotal role in Ang Lee’s dramatic masterpiece Brokeback Mountain, Hathaway engaged in a classic Hollywood deception. When the director explicitly asked if she knew how to ride a horse, she confidently lied and said yes, assuming she could easily learn before filming began. When she actually got on a massive horse on set, she immediately lost control and was physically thrown from the animal in front of the entire crew.
7. Meryl Streep Gave Her the Cold Shoulder
Starring alongside acting legend Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada was a massive dream come true. On the very first day of filming, Streep warmly hugged Hathaway and told her she was thrilled to work together. However, Streep immediately followed up by stating it was the absolute last time she would be nice to her. Streep famously utilized intense method acting, remaining icy, demanding, and completely unapproachable off-camera for the entire massive production to maintain their strained on-screen dynamic.
8. She Won an Emmy for The Simpsons
While she is universally recognized for her live-action and Oscar-winning dramatic performances, Hathaway is also a highly accomplished voice actress. In 2010, she officially won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance. She earned the prestigious trophy for her hilarious, highly energetic guest appearance as Princess Penelope on the legendary animated series The Simpsons.
9. She Was Almost Cast in Spider-Man 4
Before starring as Catwoman for DC Comics, Hathaway was incredibly close to joining the massive Marvel universe. She was officially cast to play Felicia Hardy (Black Cat) in director Sam Raimi’s highly anticipated Spider-Man 4 alongside Tobey Maguire. The massive studio project was completely canceled at the very last minute in favor of a total franchise reboot, entirely erasing her chance to debut the iconic comic book thief.
10. The Intense Physical Toll of Les Misérables
To portray the deeply tragic, starving factory worker Fantine in Les Misérables, Hathaway put her body through absolute hell. She completely shaved off her real hair on camera to capture raw, authentic emotion. Furthermore, she ate nothing but two thin squares of dried oatmeal paste a day for several weeks, losing a massive twenty-five pounds to accurately depict the physical devastation of extreme poverty and illness.
11. She Sang Live on the Barricades
The grueling physical transformation for Les Misérables was completely matched by a massive technical challenge. Director Tom Hooper completely refused to use pre-recorded studio tracks. Hathaway, along with the rest of the massive cast, had to sing every single vocal take entirely live on set while wearing tiny earpieces playing a hidden piano track. Her single, uninterrupted take of “I Dreamed a Dream” secured her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
12. She Narrowly Escaped Hypothermia
While filming Christopher Nolan’s massive sci-fi epic Interstellar, Hathaway experienced a terrifying, highly dangerous equipment failure. During a scene where her character wades through freezing, waist-deep water on an alien planet, her customized protective drysuit completely failed, flooding with icy water. Not wanting to delay the massive, expensive production, she continued filming until she began experiencing highly severe symptoms of hypothermia and the director finally noticed she was hallucinating.
13. The “Hathahate” Phenomenon
Following her massive, highly publicized Oscar campaign in 2013, the internet completely turned on her in a bizarre cultural phenomenon dubbed “Hathahate.” Online audiences fiercely criticized her for being overly rehearsed, highly earnest, and completely un-relatable. Rather than lashing out, Hathaway completely stepped back from the public eye for several years, later stating that the massive public rejection ultimately taught her invaluable lessons about self-worth and completely ignoring external validation.
14. She is a UN Goodwill Ambassador
Beyond her massive Hollywood career, Hathaway is incredibly dedicated to global activism. In 2016, she was officially appointed as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador. She uses her massive global platform to fiercely advocate for gender equality, actively focusing on the highly unequal distribution of unpaid care work and relentlessly fighting for the implementation of paid parental leave policies in the United States and across the globe.
15. The Infamous 2011 Oscars Hosting Gig
Hathaway holds the highly dubious honor of participating in what is universally considered one of the absolute most awkward television broadcasts in modern history. She co-hosted the 2011 Academy Awards alongside actor James Franco. While Hathaway attempted to carry the massive show with incredibly high, manic theatrical energy, Franco famously delivered a completely flat, deeply detached performance, resulting in a wildly unbalanced, painfully uncomfortable dynamic that television critics still analyze today.
