Anne Hathaway has a new movie set to hit theaters in May 2024, The Idea of You, in which she plays a divorced mother who falls in love with a 20-something boy band member, played by Nicholas Galitzine.
The movie is based on a novel of the same name by Robinne Lee, who was inspired when she learned about One Direction and about Harry Styles often dating older women, so it’s sure to get pulses racing.
However, Hathaway, 41, revealed in an April 2024 cover story with Variety that she has missed out on movie roles in the past due to her ‘toxic online’ identity.
After winning an Oscar for best supporting actress in 2013 for her role as Fantine in Les Misérables, Hathaway was the subject of a hate campaign online – dubbed ‘Hathahate’.
“A lot of people wouldn’t give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online,” she revealed.
She credits director Christopher Nolan, who had previously directed her in The Dark Knight Rises, as helping her through that dark time by casting her in the dystopian science fiction movie Interstellar, alongside a slew of stars including Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon and Michael Caine.
“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,” Hathaway said.
“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.”
The actress reflected on the “humiliation” she felt over the 2010’s ‘Hathahate’ trolling online.
“Humiliation is such a rough thing to go through,” she revealed to the publication.
“The key is to not let it close you down. You have to stay bold, and it can be hard because you’re like, ‘If I stay safe, if I hug the middle, if I don’t draw too much attention to myself, it won’t hurt’,” she said.
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Hathaway also candidly revealed she was told she had no sex appeal when she started in Hollywood, something she never believed.
“The male gaze was very dominant and very pervasive and very juvenile [back then]” she shared. “I was like, ‘I’m a Scorpio. I know what I’m like on a Saturday night.’”
The actress recently attended the premiere of her new movie at Southwest Film Festival, where she wore a stunning Patou mini dress and reportedly cried at the screening.