Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actress. Tall, dark-haired, with an on-screen persona mixing naivete with determination, Hathaway is an eclectic actor with a nonetheless wholesome reputation that has proven difficult to shake. She is best known for her breakout role in 2001's The Princess Diaries, as an awkward teen who suddenly discovers she is royalty, and later in Ella Enchanted.
After a string of wildly successful (family-friendly) film credits, Hathaway made a conscious decision to shift toward darker roles. Her starring role in Rachel Getting Married is best emblematic of that phase, though those of the male persuasion would probably cite her performance in Havoc (2005), for which she earned critical acclaim. However, it was 2005's Brokeback Mountain which officially put Hathaway on the map, and buried her squeaky-clean resumé for good. That following year, she got to act alongside her idol, Meryl Streep, in The Devil Wears Prada.
Despite her relative youth, Hathaway has been very busy indeed (recent press has described her as “one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood”). At the start of 2011, she was cast as Selina Kyle—better known as Catwoman—in Christopher Nolan's third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. She then scored her childhood dream role of Fantine in Les Misérables (2012), which got her a virtual confetti shower of glowing reviews and won her a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Not to be confused with the wife of William Shakespeare, after whom she is named.
Roles:
- Meghan Green in Get Real (1999-2000)
- Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries (2001) and its sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)
- Jean Sabin in The Other Side of Heaven (2001)
- Madeline Brey in The Film of the Book of Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
- Elle of Frell in Ella Enchanted (2004)
- Haru Yoshioka in The Cat Returns (2005 English dub)
- Lureen in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
- Allison Lang in Havoc (2005)
- Red Puckett in Hoodwinked! (2005)
- Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
- Jane Austen in Becoming Jane (2007)
- Agent 99 in Get Smart (2008)
- Kym in Rachel Getting Married (2008; nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress)
- Claire Summers in Passengers (2008)
- Emma Allen in Bride Wars (2009)
- The White Queen in Alice in Wonderland (2010) and its sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
- Maggie Murdock in Love & Other Drugs (2010)
- Jewel in Rio (2011) and its sequel Rio 2 (2014)
- Emma Morley in The Film of the Book of One Day (2011)
- Selina Kyle/Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
- Fantine in Les Miserables (2012; won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress)
- Amelia Brand in Interstellar (2014)
- Jules Ostin in The Intern (2015)
- Gloria in Colossal (2016)
- Daphne Kluger in Ocean's 8 (2018)
- Karen in Serenity (2018)
- Josephine Chesterfield in The Hustle (2019)
- Lexi Donohoe in Modern Love: "Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am" (2019)
- The Grand High Witch in The Witches (2020)
- Linda Thurman in Locked Down (2021)
- Rebekah Neumann in WeCrashed (2022) (also producer)
- Miss Secret Agent Lady in Storybots Answer Time (2022)
- Esther Graff in Armageddon Time (2022)
Associated Tropes:
- Author Appeal: As Film Brain pointed out, weddings seem to be one for her, seeing how she's been in three movies (The Princess Diaries 2, Rachel Getting Married, and Bride Wars) that have marriage as a central theme.
- Boyish Short Hair: Up through 2014, she kept a pixie haircut look after having her hair cut short for Les Misérables (2012) (and it carried over into Interstellar). However, she started sporting a bob-ish type hairstyle again afterwards.
- Brooklyn Rage: She was born in Brooklyn though raised in Millburn, New Jersey from the age of six.
- Contractual Purity: From the start of her career to 2005, she acted in mostly family-friendly works until she starred in Havoc and Brokeback Mountain, two R-rated films that helped her get into more roles with mature content.
- Drag King: She, Brie Larson and Kristen Stewart do this in the music video for Jenny Lewis' "Just One Of The Guys".
- Hollywood Hype Machine: An example that did hold up. She was held up as a future star even as early as The Princess Diaries, but Brokeback Mountain and Rachel Getting Married got the ball rolling. She eventually won an Oscar for Les Misérables (2012) and became one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood.
- Irony: She was rumored to be cast as Black Cat in the unproduced Spider-Man 4. She ended becoming Catwoman.
- Ms. Fanservice: In most of her adult oriented roles, she wears skimpy clothing. She is seen nude in Havoc, Brokeback and Love & Other Drugs.
- Named After Somebody Famous: She is indeed named after William Shakespeare's wife.
- The Other Marty: She replaced Tara Strong as the voice of Red Riding Hood for Hoodwinked! during production.
- Statuesque Stunner: She is 5'8", and never ceases to look gorgeous in many of her roles and in real life.
- Shakespearean Actors: Her mother is a classical theater actress and she herself underwent classical training while growing up. She is named for William Shakespeare's wife, after all. While her main focus is screen acting, she has performed Shakespeare on stage, playing Viola in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night in New York in 2009.
- What Could Have Been: She was rumored to be cast as Black Cat in the unproduced Spider-Man 4.
