Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the 1999 television series Get Real, but her first prominent role was in Disney's family comedy The Princess Diaries (2001) starring opposite Julie Andrews, which established her career. She continued to appear in family films over the next three years, and she had the lead roles in Ella Enchanted (2004) and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004).

Hathaway later ventured away from the "G-rated" image her early acting career bestowed upon her, starring in the adult-themed films Havoc and Brokeback Mountain in 2005. She later starred in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) opposite Meryl Streep and in Becoming Jane (2007), in which she portrays Jane Austen. Her most recent movie, Get Smart, in which she plays the character Agent 99, was released in June 2008 and is currently the second highest-grossing film of her career.

Her acting style has been compared to that of Judy Garland and Audrey Hepburn and she cites Hepburn as her favorite actress and Streep as her idol. People magazine named her one of 2001's breakthrough stars and in 2006 she was listed as one of the world’s 50 Most Beautiful People.

Biography

Early life and career

Hathaway was born in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to Millburn, New Jersey, when she was six years old. She is the daughter of Gerald Hathaway, a lawyer, and Kate McCauley, an actress who inspired Hathaway to follow in her footsteps. She was named after the wife of playwright William Shakespeare. She has an older brother, Michael, and a younger brother, Thomas. Hathaway has mainly Irish and French ancestry, with more distant German and Native American roots.

Hathaway was raised a Catholic with what she considered "really strong values," and has stated she wanted to be a nun during her childhood. However, at the age of fifteen she decided not to become a nun after learning that her brother Michael was gay. Despite her Catholic upbringing, she felt that she could not be part of a religion that disapproved of her brother's sexual orientation. She has stated that she is a non-denominational Christian. As a teenager, she actually spent many of her summers going to a Christian camp called Camp Johnsonburg, also known as the Johnsonburg Presbyterian Center.

Hathaway was raised in Millburn, New Jersey, and graduated from Millburn High School where she participated in many school plays. She spent several semesters studying at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York before transferring to New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Hathaway was an English major with a minor in Women's Studies, and while attending Vassar participated in the school's all-female a capella singing group Measure 4 Measure. She referred to her college enrollment as one of her best decisions because she enjoyed being with others who were trying to "grow up." Hathaway was a member of the Barrow Group Theater Company's acting program and was the first teenager ever admitted into the program. She is a trained stage actress and has stated that she prefers appearing on stage to film roles.

A soprano, Hathaway performed twice in 1998 with the All Eastern U.S. High School Honors Chorus at Carnegie Hall and has performed in plays at Seton Hall Prep in West Orange. Three days after performing at Carnegie Hall, she was cast in the short-lived 1999 television series Get Real.

1999-2004: Career development

Hathaway starred in the 1999 FOX television series Get Real for one season, after which it was canceled. Her first filmed role in a motion picture was as Jean Sabin in The Other Side of Heaven (2001) opposite Christopher Gorham. Before production of Heaven began in New Zealand, she auditioned for the lead role of Mia Thermopolis in the Garry Marshall-directed The Princess Diaries (2001). Hathaway auditioned for the role during a flight layover on the way to New Zealand and won the role after only one audition. Marshall claimed that he loved her immediately because she fell off her chair during the audition and believed her clumsiness would make her perfect for the role. However, in a 2008 conversation with Steve Carell Hathaway denied that she fell during this audition, although she openly admits to being a "clutz". The Princess Diaries was released before The Other Side of Heaven in the hopes that its success would increase interest in Heaven. Across the world, The Princess Diaries was a commercial success and a sequel was planned shortly after. Many critics praised Hathaway's performance in Diaries; a BBC critic noted that "Hathaway shines in the title role and generates great chemistry." The Other Side of Heaven was received weakly by critics, but it performed well for a religious-themed film.

In February 2002, Hathaway made her Broadway debut opposite Brian Mitchell in the City Center Encores! production of Carnival! She received positive reviews for her portrayal of Lili; the role demanded both acting and singing and was a continuation of her success as a comic actress.

Hathaway continued to appear in family-oriented films over the next three years and subsequently became known in mainstream media as a children's role model. In 2002, she appeared in Nicholas Nickleby (2002) opposite Charlie Hunnam and Jamie Bell, which opened to positive reviews; the Northwest Herald referred to it as "an unbelievably fun film" and the Deseret News said that the cast was "Oscar-worthy." Despite critical acclaim, the film never entered wide release and failed at the North American box office, totaling less than US$4 million in ticket sales.

Hathaway's next film role was as the titular character in Ella Enchanted (2004), the film adaptation of the award-winning novel, which opened to mostly indifferent reviews. Hathaway sang two songs in the film as well as two on the soundtrack.

In 2004 Hathaway was set to star opposite Gerard Butler in The Phantom of the Opera, but was forced to turn down the role due to the movie having a production schedule that overlapped with that of The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, which she was contractually obligated to make. Disney began production on The Princess Diaries 2 in early 2004 and it was released in August of that year. The film opened to negative reviews and peaked higher at the box office than its predecessor, but ended with lower ticket sales.

2005-present: Career transition

Hathaway began appearing in more dramatic roles after The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. She voiced a version of Little Red Riding Hood in Hoodwinked! (2005), which received generally mixed reviews. That same year, Hathaway was cast in the R-rated Havoc (2005), in which she played a spoiled socialite. In a surprise move, Hathaway was featured in several nude and sexual scenes throughout the film. Despite the content of the movie being radically different from her previous films, Hathaway has denied that her role in the film was a blatant attempt to be seen as more of an adult actress, citing her belief that doing nudity in certain movies is merely a part of what her chosen form of art demands of her, and because of that belief she does not consider appearing nude in the appropriate films to be morally objectionable.

After Havoc, she appeared in the drama Brokeback Mountain (2005), opposite Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, in a role that further displayed a more serious side of Hathaway. Havoc was not released in theaters in the United States (but was later released in other countries) because of its weak critical reception, but Brokeback Mountain won rave reviews for its depiction of a homosexual relationship in the 1960s, and received several Academy Award nominations. Hathaway would later assert that the content of Brokeback Mountain was more important than its award count and also stated that making the film made her more aware of the kind of stories she wanted to tell as an actress.

Hathaway's next film was The Devil Wears Prada (2006), in which she starred as an assistant to a powerful fashion magazine editor (Meryl Streep, whom Hathaway described as being "just divine").Hathaway said that working on the film earned her respect in the fashion industry, but she claims that her personal style is something she "can't get right" and instead prefers "doing the things she loves."

Hathaway was next seen in Becoming Jane, released in mid-2007, in which she stars as English writer Jane Austen. Tim Burton considered Hathaway for the part of Johanna in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, but in the end the role was given to Jayne Wisener, a then-unknown actress, reportedly because Burton decided he wanted an unknown actress for the part.

Hathaway's first film of 2008 was a modern adaptation of the 1960s Mel Brooks television series "Get Smart", in which she starred opposite Steve Carell, Dwayne Johnson, and Alan Arkin. The film was a hit at the box office and received mostly positive reviews, prompting talk of a sequel. She also made a cameo appearance in the spin-off film Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control. In October 2008 she will star in the drama Passengers, alongside Patrick Wilson. She has recently completed the drama "Rachel Getting Married," opposite Debra Winger. The film premiered at the 2008 Venice Film Festival to wide acclaim. Hathaway's dark role as a recovering drug addict has already generated Oscar buzz, with the Hollywood Reporter declaring, "An award-worthy Anne Hathaway gives the story a clear central focus." Rival trade publication Variety called her "fragile, angry, superb". She has also finished filming the comedy Bride Wars, in which she will star with Kate Hudson. The film is scheduled to be released on January 9, 2009.

It was announced in January 2008 that Hathaway would be joining beauty giant, Lancôme, as the face of their newest fragrance to be launched in September 2008. She recently completed an ad for the company as the new face of Magnifique.

Personal life

Hathaway enjoys interior design and reading as pastimes. She has cited Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead (1943) as her favorite novel. Hathaway is a firm believer in education and has stated that if she were a princess like her breakthrough character, she would "make it mandatory that all six-year-olds know how to read." Hathaway enjoys music and has stated that she is a fan of a wide variety of music, from Judy Garland to Rilo Kiley to Blonde Redhead.

Anne Hathaway was a vegetarian for many years. She has stated that she isn't in the entertainment industry to be famous, but simply because she loves to create. In early 2007, Hathaway spoke of her experiences with depression during her teenage years, and said that she eventually overcame the disorder without medication.

Hathaway is involved with the Lolipop Theater Network, a program that screens films to critically-ill children. In 2008, she hosted a special screening of Get Smart for teenagers, and has also shown The Devil Wears Prada. She is also involved with St. Jude events, as well as the Human Rights Campaign.

In 2004, Hathaway began a relationship with Italian real estate developer Raffaello Follieri. During their relationship, Hathaway took part in the development of the charitable Follieri Foundation, serving as a financial donor as well as a member of the foundation's board of directors for an undisclosed amount of time. A Manhattan-based charity founded in 2003 focusing on programs such as providing vaccinations for children in Third-World nations, the organization had come under investigation in early June 2008 by the IRS, reportedly for failing to file tax papers required from non-profit organizations. Citing the fear that this and other ongoing legal issues involving Follieri would inevitably become detrimental to her acting career, as well as for her own ethical reasons, Hathaway ended her relationship with Follieri in mid-June 2008.

On June 24, 2008, Follieri was arrested on fraud charges for allegedly fleecing investors out of millions of dollars in a scheme involving purchasing Catholic properties in the U.S. for re-development. The FBI alleged that he posed as a financial representative of the Vatican and had duped people into investing in his fraudulent fund as recently as May 2008. Court papers state that Hathaway was an unwitting beneficiary of the stolen money which had in large part paid for Follieri's opulent lifestyle of jet-setting, shopping sprees and fine dining. On July 24, 2008, it was reported that the FBI had confiscated Hathaway's private journals from Follieri's New York City apartment as part of their ongoing investigation into Follieri's activities.

Currently, Hathaway is not facing any charges in regards to the allegations brought against either Follieri or the Follieri Foundation, and has reportedly cut off all contact with him.

Filmography

• 1999 Get Real as Meghan Green - TV series, 1999-2000
• 2001 The Princess Diaries as Amelia "Mia" Thermopolis
• 2001 The Other Side of Heaven as Jean Sabin
• 2002 The Cat Returns as Haru - Voice
• 2002 Nicholas Nickleby as Madeline Bray
• 2004 Ella Enchanted as Ella of Frell
• 2004 The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement as Amelia "Mia" Thermopolis
• 2005 Hoodwinked! as Red Puckett - voice
• 2005 Havoc as Allison Lang - Direct-to-video
• 2005 Brokeback Mountain as Lureen Newsome Twist
• 2006 The Devil Wears Prada as Andrea "Andy" Sachs
• 2007 Becoming Jane as Jane Austen
• 2008 Get Smart as Agent 99
• 2008 Passengers as Claire Summers
• 2008 Rachel Getting Married as Kym

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