There was a time where hate for Anne Hathaway was confoundingly strong. But what had she really done to deserve all of the backlash? It’s not like she was a one-note star – she balanced crappy rom-comcs with terrific performances in movies like Brokeback Mountain and Rachel Getting Married – or was a problem on the set. And yet people had seemingly decided to turn on her sometime in the early 2010s, with a new term, “Hathahate”, being coined. But one who remained faithful in her as an actress and a professional was Christopher Nolan, who cast her as Selina Kyle aka Catwoman in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises and again in 2014’s Interstellar. And for that, Anne Hathaway is forever grateful.
In a new Vanity Fair profile, Anne Hathaway said of her time on the outs with Hollywood, “A lot of people wouldn’t give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online. I had an angel in Christopher Nolan, who did not care about that and gave me one of the most beautiful roles I’ve had in one of the best films that I’ve been a part of.” She added, “I don’t know if he knew that he was backing me at the time, but it had that effect. And my career did not lose momentum the way it could have if he hadn’t backed me.”
While Anne Hathaway’s career hardly had a serious resurgence after her pair of Nolan collaborations, she did sneak in an Oscar win for Les Misérables in 2013, an impressive feat considering she barely has 15 minutes of screen time as Fantine. This win came just two years after co-hosting the Academy Awards, something she really had no business doing. What resulted was one of the worst hosting gigs ever, as she and co-host James Franco had zero chemistry, lacked comedic timing and presented themselves like they were being held hostage, no doubt contributing to the backlash that may have something to do with her overexposure. Such a mess it was, the Academy invited back former mainstay Billy Crystal, who hadn’t hosted since 2004.
Anne Hathaway has a number of projects lined up, including rom-com The Idea of You and David Lowery epic Mother Mary. She is also speculated to be circling season two of Beef.
What’s your position on Anne Hathaway and what do you make of the hate she got during that period?