Anne Hathaway
Birthdate: Nov 12, 1982
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Anne Hathaway (birthname: Anne Jacqueline Hathaway) has enjoyed a remarkably successful film career from the start when she made her splashy debut in the Garry Marshall-directed The Princess Diaries (2001). Equally notable about the talented Hathaway, who has been rightly compared to Audrey Hepburn, is her evolution from playing nice, fresh-scrubbed characters to more worldly, complicated roles.
With The Princess Diaries (2001), Hathaway was paired with the legendary Julie Andrews, and Hector Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, and Mandy Moore; as a surprise box-office smash, it launched a sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), also with Andrews and again directed by Marshall, and earning $135 million worldwide.
In between these two Disney hits, Anne Hathaway co-starred with Christopher Gorham in writer-director Mitch Davis’ The Other Side of Heaven (2001); writer-director Douglas McGrath’s Dickens adaptation for MGM and 20th Century Fox, Nicholas Nickleby (2002), starring Jamie Bell, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay, Alan Cumming, Edward Fox, Charlie Hunnam, Juliet Stevenson, Timothy Spall, and Christopher Plummer; playing a vocal character in Hiroyuki Morita’s animated Japanese fantasy, The Cat Returns (2002); and Hathaway’s first above-the-title starring role in the fantasy comedy, Ella Enchanted (2004), with Hugh Dancy, Cary Elwes, Vivica A. Fox, and Minnie Driver.
Often overlooked in Anne Hathaway's filmography is the fact that she starred in the only narrative feature directed by documentary master Barbara Kopple, Havoc (2005), with Bijou Phillips, Michael Biehn, and Laura San Giacomo.
After Havoc—which was Hathaway’s actual first venture into serious film drama—she landed a coveted supporting role, as wife to Jake Gyllenhaal, in filmmaker Ang Lee’s landmark film, Brokeback Mountain (2005), based on Annie Proulx’s short story, co-starring Heath Ledger, Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid, and Anna Faris, while earning over ten times its $14 million budget and winning three Oscars including Lee for Best Director.
Hathaway actually enjoyed a bigger career boost co-starring with the Oscar-nominated Meryl Streep in the hit comedy-drama, The Devil Wears Prada (2006), co-starring Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, and Adrien Grenier, and earning $326 million worldwide. Although criticized for her American-style portrayal of Jane Austen, Hathaway led the way in the Julian Jarrold-directed Becoming Jane (2007), with James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, and Maggie Smith. Switching gears, Hathaway had a lark as Agent 99 opposite Steve Carell in Get Smart (2008), with Dwayne Johnson, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp, and James Caan, grossing a healthy three times its $80 million budget.
Anne Hathaway’s biggest artistic triumph to this point in her career came with the Jonathan Demme-directed Rachel Getting Married (2008), with a Best Actress Oscar nomination as confirmation, marking a more mature phase for the actor. Though slammed by critics, Hathaway enjoyed more box-office success with the rom-com, Bride Wars (2009), co-starring Kate Hudson, Chris Pratt, and Candice Bergen, earning nearly four times its $30 million budget.
Another slight rom-com followed the ensemble-driven Valentine’s Day (2010), with Hathaway under rom-com master Garry Marshall’s direction, followed by a co-starring role in Tim Burton’s box-office smash ($1.02 billion), Alice in Wonderland (2010), co-starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Mia Wasikowska, and Alan Rickman. Hathaway proved that she was box-office gold once again in director Ed Zwick’s comedy-drama, Love & Other Drugs (2010), in her second pairing with Gyllenhaal.
Like so many big stars, Anne Hathaway lent her vocal talents to a major animated feature, 20th Century Fox’s well-received Rio (2011), grossing nearly a half-billion dollars globally, with Jesse Eisenberg, will I am, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, and Tracy Morgan, and following up with a sequel, Rio 2 (2014), which matched the original’s commercial success worldwide under Carlos Saldanha’s direction.
After a disappointment with the romantic drama directed by Lone Scherfig, One Day (2011), Hathaway rebounded in a big way as Catwoman in Christopher Nolan’s brawny, impressive The Dark Knight Rises (2012), co-starring with Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, and Morgan Freeman, marking her second movie in three years to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
The same year, Anne Hathaway co-starred in another epic, director Tom Hooper’s adaptation of the musical, Les Misérables (2012), co-starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sacha Baron Cohen, earning eight Oscar nominations and $441 million worldwide.
Hathaway reunited with filmmaker Nolan for the multi-Oscar-nominated sci-fi drama, Interstellar (2014), grossing an impressive $701 million worldwide, and co-starring Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Ellen Burstyn, and Michael Caine. Hathaway continued her consistent box-office track record with the critically dismissed but audience-pleasing comedy-drama from writer-director Nancy Meyers, The Intern (2015), with Robert De Niro and Rene Russo.
A second spin with Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016), this time only produced but not directed by Tim Burton, proved to be a relative failure with critics and audiences, followed by an acclaimed but commercially poor fantasy black comedy from writer-director Nacho Vigalondo, Colossal (2016), which allowed Hathaway to stretch herself in a new genre opposite Jason Sudeikis and Tim Blake Nelson.
Hathaway upped the sexy quotient in writer-director Gary Ross’s women-dominated Ocean’s 8 (2018), holding her own alongside stars Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett, with Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, and Helena Bonham Carter, and grossing nearly $300 million globally.
Following a disappointing result ($14 million global returns on a $25 million budget) and poor reviews for the mystery-thriller, Serenity (2019), co-starring Matthew McConaughey and Diane Lane, Anne Hathaway bounced back with the more profitable comedy remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and Bedtime Story (1964), The Hustle (2019), co-starring Rebel Wilson, Dean Norris, and Tim Blake Nelson, withstanding poor reviews for a global return of over $97 million, over four times budget ($21 million).
Hathaway returned to serious drama under the sober-minded direction of Todd Haynes in the topical legal thriller, Dark Waters (2019), starring Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham, and Bill Pullman, and released by Focus Features. Despite the source material of a Joan Didion novel and a Sundance Film Festival premiere, plus a cast led by Hathaway, Willem Dafoe, Ben Affleck, Rosie Perez, and Toby Jones, the Dee Rees-directed political thriller, The Last Thing He Wanted (2020), became among the low-scoring Hathaway-starring movies on Rotten Tomatoes (5%) and Metacritic (35), with critics labeling it “incomprehensible.”
Following the digitally-released HBO Max movie remake of Nicolas Roeg’s 1990 film, The Witches (2020) starring Hathaway and originally intended for theatrical release by Warner Bros. but pulled due to the COVID pandemic, Hathaway took on a rom-com that used the pandemic to artistic advantage with Locked Down (2021), directed by Doug Liman and co-starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, and again released during COVID on HBO Max.
With writer-producer-director James Gray, Hathaway tackled one of her most dramatically important roles to date in Armageddon Time (2022), co-starring Jeremy Strong, Banks Repeta, and Anthony Hopkins, and premiering at the Cannes Film Festival. Hathaway starred in the first feature adaptation of an Otessa Moshfegh novel, Eileen (date to be announced), directed by William Oldroyd, and co-starring Thomasin McKenzie, Jefferson White, Marin Ireland, and Shea Whigham, followed by writer-director Rebecca Miller’s music-based rom-com, She Came to Me (date to be announced), with Peter Dinklage and Marisa Tomei.
Hathaway shared top-billing with Jessica Chastain in the Benoit Delhomme-directed family drama, Mothers’ Instinct (date to be announced), with Josh Charles, and Anders Danielsen Lie, and then starred in the Michael Showalter-directed feature set during the Coachella festival, The Idea of You, based on Robinne Lee’s novel and produced by Amazon Studios.
The Muppets joined Anne Hathaway for the New York-set comedy, Sesame Street (date to be announced), co-starring the comic Bo Burnham and musician Chance the Rapper, and then Bill Murray (voicing a stray dog named Bum) allied with Hathaway for the feature, Bum’s Rush (date to be announced), directed by Aaron Schneider.
Personal Details
Brooklyn-born Anne Hathaway was raised by parents Kate (stage actor-singer) and Gerald Hathaway (labor attorney) in New York City and Milburn, New Jersey. Hathaway is the middle sibling of three, with two brothers, Michael and Tom. Raised Catholic and inspired to explore acting by her mother’s own acting prowess, Hathaway was interested in becoming a nun, until age 15 when her brother Michael said he was gay; the family left the church and joined the Episcopalian Church due to its acceptance of homosexuality.
Hathaway’s schooling included Brooklyn Heights Montessori School and Milburn High School in Milburn, New Jersey, where she performed in school productions before graduating. She then performed in several productions at the Milburn-based Paper Mill Playhouse and was the first teenager accepted to the acting program at the New York City-based Barrow Group Theatre Company. Her acting studies included courses at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Hathaway majored in English and minored in Women’s Studies at Vassar College, and then transferred to New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Hathaway performed soprano with the All-Eastern U.S. High School Honors Chorus, including a performance at Carnegie Hall, soon after which she landed her first professional acting gig on the series, Get Real (2000).
She was never able to complete her degree after being cast in her first feature, The Princess Diaries. Hathaway has been married to actor-producer Adam Shulman since 2012; the couple has two sons, Jonathan and Jack Shulman. Hathaway’s height is 5’ 8”. Her estimated net worth is $80 million.
Filmography
actor
Upcoming (1)
- 2025 | Flowervale Street
Flowervale Street
A family in the 80s start to notice bizarre happenings in their neighborhood.
Previous (18)
- 2023 |
- 2023 | She Came to MeasPatricia Jessup-Lauddem
She Came to Me
A composer who suffers writer's block rediscovers his passion after an adventurous one-night stand.
- 2022 | Armageddon TimeasEsther Graff
Armageddon Time
A deeply personal coming-of-age story about the strength of family and the generational pursuit of the American Dream.
- 2022 | Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Big Bird and his Sesame Street friends are mysteriously expelled from their neighborhood, finding themselves in Manhattan. They team up with a plucky history show host Sally Hawthorne (Anne Hathaway) who's on a quest to save her show and prove that Sesame Street actually exists, with obstacles created by the "evil" Mayor, with reasons of his own for keeping Sesame Street hidden from the world.
- 2019 | Dark WatersasSarah Barlage Bilott
Dark Waters
A corporate defense attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution.
- 2019 | The HustleasJosephine Chesterfield
The Hustle
Two con women - one low rent and the other high class - team up to take down the men who have wronged them.
- 2019 |
- 2018 | Ocean’s EightasDaphne Kluger
Ocean’s Eight
Debbie Ocean gathers an all-female crew to attempt an impossible heist at New York City's annual Met Gala.
- 2017 |
- 2016 | Alice Through the Looking GlassasMirana
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Alice returns to the whimsical world of Wonderland and travels back in time to help the Mad Hatter.
- 2015 | The InternasJules
The Intern
Seventy-year-old widower Ben Whittaker has discovered that retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be. Seizing an opportunity to get back in the game, he becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site, founded and run by Jules Ostin.
- 2014 | InterstellarasBrand
Interstellar
When Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future, a farmer and ex-NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, is tasked to pilot a spacecraft, along with a team of researchers, to find a new planet for humans.
- 2014 |
- 2012 | Les MisérablesasFantine
Les Misérables
In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who, for decades, has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives forever.
- 2012 | The Dark Knight RisesasSelina
The Dark Knight Rises
Eight years after the Joker's reign of anarchy, Batman, with the help of the enigmatic Catwoman, is forced from his exile to save Gotham City from the brutal guerrilla terrorist Bane.
- 2011 |
- 2005 | Brokeback MountainasLureen Newsome
Brokeback Mountain
Ennis and Jack are two shepherds who develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Their relationship becomes complicated when both of them get married to their respective girlfriends.
- 2005 | The Cat ReturnsasHaru
The Cat Returns
After helping a cat, a seventeen-year-old girl finds herself involuntarily engaged to a cat Prince in a magical world where her only hope of freedom lies with a dapper cat statuette come to life.
Some Facts About Anne Hathaway
What’s in a Name?: Anne Hathaway was named after Shakespeare’s wife.
Public Image: Hathaway has commented that “people have this idea of me as just being a very prim, professional girl, which I suppose I am, but I do cut loose and have fun in my life.”
Underrated?: Some commentators have remarked that Anne Hathaway’s best performances tend to be underrated, with Esquire Magazine writer Justin Kirkland noting that her career has conveyed “subtle brilliance that has largely gone unnoticed.”
Phobia: Astonishingly, Hathaway claims to be afraid of performing on camera, and prefers acting on stage.
Causes and Philanthropy: Anne Hathaway has worked and spoken for the Human Rights Campaign (and winning an award for her philanthropic support for the campaign); supported women’s and girl’s empowerment efforts in North America, Kenya, and Ethiopia; appointed the United Nations Women Goodwill ambassador; and helped create the Time’s Up initiative protecting women from sexual harassment and abuse.
