Anne Hathaway Once Gave Herself a Special Day to Be ‘Mean to Anyone, About Anything’
Actor Anne Hathaway once confided that it took some time to figure herself out in the spotlight. It was important for her to treat others with kindness, but she also felt it was equally important to lash out every once in a while. As she matured, however, she realized this might not have been the best way to approach her emotions.
Anne Hathaway used to try and give herself an extra day to lash out
Hathaway remembered being very self-aware of how she came across in the public eye. Although she was used to putting on performances, she didn’t want to act like someone she wasn’t in her everyday life. But she wondered if this level of honesty actually worked against her.
“I’m interested in living a very honest life. I don’t know if that makes me a boring person. I don’t really care if it does,” she said in an interview with Vogue. “It would be easier if I was better at being misleading or sneaky. I know how all that stuff works. I’m not a naive idiot. I know if I was a little bit mean to everybody, people would be like, ‘Oh, she’s fun. I like her.’ And I’m just like, ‘Can we try to tear each other apart?’”
Hathaway also admittedly had a problem with anger. To help balance out this side of her personality, she’d permit herself to be unfriendlier than usual. But as she grew older, Hathaway realized she had to make a change.
“I used to do this thing where I was like, ‘I’m nice 29 days out of 30, and then I give myself complete permission to be mean to anyone, about anything.’ I realized that if I could actually move away from the judgment and deal with my emotions in the moment, I didn’t actually need the extra day. Rage doesn’t lead you to a place of peace. And for me the goal is not happiness. The goal is peace,” she said.
How Anne Hathaway felt about being hated
There was a period of time when a good portion of the internet seemed to turn on Hathaway. Her speech and presentation when she won an Academy Award for Les Misérables rubbed many the wrong way. But looking back on it, Hathaway felt the online backlash was necessary.
“I really don’t want to dredge up the past but I did have my monster out there, I did have the internet turn on me and hate me and it was like a whole big thing,” she once told The Sun. “And it was a really good thing for me personally.”
Hathaway could even see where some of her online detractors were coming from. Even though the event was supposed to be one of the happiest moments of her life, it was far from it. Especially since the movie reminded her of real problems that are still happening in the world today.
“You’re supposed to be happy. I didn’t feel that way,” she added. “I felt wrong that I was standing there in a gown that cost more than some people are going to see in their lifetime, and winning an award for portraying pain that still felt very much a part of our collective experience as human beings.”
She tried to pretend to be happy in the moment, but people saw through it.
“So I guess what I’d say is when the bad s*** happens, don’t fear it. Just go with it, flow with it,” she said.
Anne Hathaway’s ‘The Hustle’ co-star felt like people didn’t know one side of her
Hathaway also has a very humorous side to her that her Hustle co-star felt people knew little of. Rebel Wilson worked alongside the actor in the 2019 comedy. Wilson shared that Hathaway might’ve been known for her humor behind the scenes. But her past experiences with the fandom may have made her reluctant to show that part of herself.
“Sometimes she’ll come out with a really good joke, and I’m like, ‘You should tweet that or put that on Instagram, Annie!’ And she’s like, ‘I can’t,’” Wilson said. “I guess a lot of people don’t know that side of her.”
