This article is about Anne Hathaway the actress. For William Shakespeare's wife, see Anne Hathaway (Shakespeare).

Anne Whitney Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American film and stage actress. She came to fame in 2001, after starring in the family film, The Princess Diaries, and has since established a career as a Hollywood actress, starring in the films Ella Enchanted, Brokeback Mountain, and the upcoming The Devil Wears Prada.

Biography

Early life

Hathaway was born in Brooklyn, New York to what she has described as a "solidly upper-middle class family".^[1] Her father, Gerard Hathaway, is a lawyer, and her mother, Kate McCauley, is an actress who inspired Hathaway to follow in her footsteps;^[1] her maternal grandfather was Joe McCauley, a Philadelphia radio pioneer. Hathaway, who has Irish ancestry on her father's side, grew up in the Catholic religion with what she describes as "really strong values",^[1] and wanted to be a nun during her childhood.^[2] She shares her name with Anne Hathaway, the wife of playwright William Shakespeare.

Hathaway grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Millburn High School, and also spent several semesters studying at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, before transferring to New York University. Hathaway has noted that her decision to attend college was "one of the best decisions" she has made, because she enjoyed the experience of being "with other people who are trying to get through the same stuff - growing up".^[3]

Career

Hathaway was a member of the Barrow Group Theater Company's acting program, and was the only teenager to ever be accepted into the program.^[4] As a result, she is a trained stage actress, and has said that she feels more comfortable on stage than in film roles.^[1] Her first major role was in the short-lived television series Get Real. She gained widespread recognition for her starring roles in The Princess Diaries (2001) and its 2004 sequel, playing a teenage girl who discovers that she is a member of royalty. Since the success of the two films, Hathaway had a notable role in the 2002 film production of Nicholas Nickleby, opposite Charlie Hunnam and Jamie Bell, and a starring role in 2004's Ella Enchanted, playing a fairy tale princess. Hathaway, who is a former top-ranking soprano, was reportedly a front-runner for the role of Christine in the 2004 film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. However, due to scheduling conflicts with The Princess Diaries 2, she could not take the role (which was eventually played Emmy Rossum).

Hathaway has moved away from appearing in family films, explaining that she thinks "anybody who was a role model for children needs a reprieve".^[3] She starred in the dark R-rated film Havoc, as well as a supporting role in Brokeback Mountain, opposite Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal; Hathaway appeared topless in both films.^[1] Her latest film is the The Devil Wears Prada, in which she plays an assisant to a malicious fashion magazine editor (played by Meryl Streep, whom Hathaway described as being "just divine").^[1] Hathaway describes the film as a statement about a maturing young woman in the work force.^[1] She has also disclosed that as a result of working on the film, she respects the fashion industry, but her personal fashion style is something she "can't get right".^[4] The film opens on June 30, 2006.

Hathaway will soon star in Becoming Jane, in which she plays author Jane Austen.

Personal life

Since 2004, Hathaway has been in a relationship with real estate developer Raffaello Follieri.^[1] Hathaway enjoys reading and notes Interior decoration as a hobby.^[1]

When Hathaway was fifteen, she decided against becoming a nun after discovering that her brother Michael was a homosexual. Though she was brought up as a Catholic, she found that she "couldn't support a religion that didn't support my brother". She has stated that she is a Non-denominational Christian, and hasn't "found the religion" for herself.^[2]

Selected filmography

References

Footnotes

Interviews

• Out.com interview (Decemeber 2005)
• AP interview (June 2006)

Web sites

• Anne Hathaway at the Internet Movie Database
• AnneHathawayFan.com, an extensive fan site