Anne Hathaway Was Once Ashamed of Her Past Diva-Like Behavior
Actor Anne Hathaway shot to stardom thanks to her role in The Princess Diaries. But after establishing herself as an actor, Hathaway wasn’t too proud of her behavior on film sets.
Anne Hathaway was once ashamed of her past diva behavior
Hathaway has confided that she hasn’t always been the model actor on set. She believed her role in The Princess Diaries helped foster an unlikable attitude for Hathaway that carried over to her other films. But at the time, the young star wasn’t aware of how intense her behavior could be sometimes.
“I was 17 when I made The Princess Diaries,” Hathaway once told W Magazine. “I was at the nucleus of such a large organism, and Garry [Marshall] made me feel that I was the most important person on set every day. And from there…sometimes when I would talk to adults, they would be taken aback by how forward I was. And I was very oblivious to it.”
This changed, however, when she dealt with her Rachel Getting Married director Jonathan Demme.
“One day on Rachel Getting Married, Jonathan altered something in the script, and I said, ‘Jonathan! Why did you change this?! It was better the other way and here’s A, B, C, D, E, F, G why!’ And he smiled at me and said, ‘Hey, Annie? Maybe instead of telling me why I’m wrong, you could ask me why I made the choice I made,’” she recalled.
The response was an eyeopener to Hathaway, who decided to make a change in the way she interacted with others.
“I didn’t mean to be disrespectful to people, but that’s exactly what I had done for years,” she said.
Anne Hathaway once commented on the hatred she experienced by fans
Her associates weren’t the only people that Hathaway might have rubbed the wrong way. In 2013, Hathaway generated a lot of acting buzz for her performance in the film Les Miserables. But that acting buzz was almost overshadowed by behavior that some felt might have been diva-like as well.
Some didn’t feel that Hathaway came off as genuine during her speech when she won her Best Supporting Actress Oscar. And Hathaway agreed with this assessment to an extent.
“One of the things I’ve been accused of is being inauthentic. And they were right—but not for the reason they thought,” Hathaway once told Harper’s Bazaar. “I couldn’t tie this moment to what I really wanted to say. And that’s on me, because Lupita did it.”
Hathaway also called herself out on a mistake she made during the Golden Globes. After Les Miserables won an award for Best Musical or Comedy, Hathaway wanted to continue speaking on stage.
“While everyone was still getting onstage, I spoke. I should have gone after everyone else. I own that; it was rude. People saw that as grabby, I guess. I don’t know,” Hathaway said.
But the actor chalked her mistakes up to her overall public speaking skills.
“I really struggle with it—it makes me incredibly anxious,” she added.
Anne Hathaway grew from her experiences
Hathaway wasn’t crushed by the strong response towards her speeches, however. The Dark Knight Rises actor treated the ordeal as a valuable learning experience that helped her later on in life.
“But I’ve grown from it. This whole thing has made me a way more compassionate and loving person. And I don’t feel sorry for myself,” she said.
Her growth included a new outlook on life that allowed Hathaway to take certain risks she might not have had before.
“I am getting more daring now—I’ll wear my mom jeans in public that haven’t been tailored ‘just so’ yet, just because they feel good. For a long time I was afraid of the harsh things people would say about me, but I might as well be happy,” she said.
