Anne Hathaway Had a Surprising Reaction to Losing the Oscar to Kate Winslet in 2009
Anne Hathaway is no stranger to the Oscars. She’s hosted the Academy Awards — that one time with James Franco, which most everyone considered a bomb. And she’s even earned two Oscar nominations. With so many big-screen appearances, she’s catapulted herself into the running as one of Hollywood’s big-name stars.
Of all the headlines Hathaway found herself in surrounding a night at the Oscars, there’s one you may not remember. It was 2009. And the Best Actress nominations included Hathaway for her role in 2008’s Rachel Getting Married.
While Hathaway didn’t win, she still found herself in the spotlight. Her surprising reaction to losing to Kate Winslet had everyone talking.
Anne Hathaway’s stellar acting career
Fans can watch Hathaway right now in WeCrashed, the Apple+ miniseries about the real-life disaster known as WeWork. She stars opposite Jared Leto as Rebekah Neumann. But Hathaway’s IMDb profile is long and distinguished with countless movie roles. These include high-profile appearances in Ocean’s Eight, Colossal, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Interstellar, Les Misérables, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Princess Diaries.
Over the course of her successful acting career, Hathaway has earned several awards from film and TV-related organizations. But when it comes to the big one, the Academy Awards, she’s only received two nominations.
The Brooklyn native earned one of those nominations in 2008 for her role in Rachel Getting Married. Hathaway competed for Best Actress against other critically-acclaimed performers like Melissa Leo, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, and Kate Winslet.
Anne Hathaway’s apparent reaction when she lost the Oscar for Best Actress to Kate Winslet
Looper calls the moment the “best exuberant reaction to losing” ever in describing Hathaway’s reaction to Kate Winslet winning the Oscar. The now-39-year-old wasn’t just happy for her acting colleague; she was downright ecstatic, cheering wildly when Winslet took the stage. You can watch the reaction on YouTube around 5:50.
Hathaway has her critics. You can bet there were rumors of her enthusiastic reaction to losing an Oscar being inauthentic. Haters might claim it was all an act; after all, they’re all actors, but the joy on Hathaway’s face does appear to be sincere. She may have really been that excited for Winslet after all.
Did Hathaway ever get her Oscar?
Perhaps Hathaway’s best experience at the Academy Awards came that fateful day in 2013. She did get her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in her role in Les Misérables. She seemed just as excited during her acceptance of the Oscar as she was back in 2009. According to an interview Hathaway did with The Guardian, she admitted to “pretend that I was happy.”
It’s not that Hathaway wasn’t grateful for the recognition. Taking home an Oscar is the ultimate sign of achievement in Hollywood. But for this role in Les Misérables, she portrayed someone deeply in pain, a sentiment that is very real to many people today.
Hathaway said, “I felt wrong” and “I felt very uncomfortable,” citing the experience of being on stage, in front of all those celebrities, wearing a gown that cost more than most ordinary people would see in their lifetimes. It wasn’t necessarily that she had been faking it; rather, she was trying to cope with what she called a “complicated happiness.”
Those uncomfortable moments at the Academy Awards don’t sway Hathaway. Considering her continued projects and stellar performances, she’s likely to find herself in the Oscar spotlight again sometime.
