10 Times Anne Hathaway Proved She’s The HBIC
Anne Hathaway is the girl in high school that you just knew would make it big- clutching her JanSport backpack and nervously fingering black plastic-rimmed glasses while she rushed through the halls to theatre class- a woman with an earnest mien that wore her heart on her sleeve and in the lines of her brow.
This is the Anne Hathaway that stomped headfirst into the esteem of moviegoers everywhere, with black converse and frizzy hair alongside (Queen) Julie Andrews in The Princess Diaries (Admit it: You still want to use those Flex Miles to fly to Genovia)
Pictured: Hathaway in full TPD glory as a literal queen
Hathaway’s ascent to solidified super-stardom has not been without snag and stumble however, (no actual knees were bruised- we’ll leave the televised falls to JLaw) as she rode a rough wave of Haterade following the 2013 award season.
With the HathaHaters coming out in full-forced-pitchfork-mob ferocity following a string of interviews in which the decorated actress came off as pretentious and unthankful for her success and subsequent Oscar win, Anne had this to say:
"Punched in the gut. Shocked and slapped and embarrassed. Even now I can feel the shame. I was in crisis. Now I'd be fine. I really would be. I'd let it roll off my back, but at the time I was still partly Fantine. [the role responsible for her Oscar-nab] I was still identifying with being a victim. People treated me a certain way, but I've grown from it. This whole thing has made me a way more compassionate and loving person. And I don't feel sorry for myself."
With that shoulder dust-off, here’s 10 reasons why Anne Hathaway is still the HBIC:
10. Pretentious? Nah. Hathaway loves unbuttoning her pants and watching Reality TV with a mouth full of Pringles and a Bioré pore strip just like the rest of us. On the binge-drink-glorifying spray tan carnival that is Jersey Shore, the actress remarks:
I think JWoww is amazing. I love JWoww. She's intense. See, JWoww to me is proper Jersey because she will scrap for a friend.
9. She knows the power of the nip’. On dealing with a last-minute wardrobe change the night before the Oscars, she embraced the red carpet looking like she was ready to cut diamonds and didn’t GAF.
“Wow, I can do this. It’s beautiful. It’s appropriate. It’s modern. It’s minimal. I look in the mirror, turn to Adam and say, ‘It looks like my nipples are hard.’ He says, ‘You look beautiful. Your nipples look pointy. The red carpet’s about to close. We gotta go.’”
8. Hathaway once considered trading movie scripts for hymnals, pulling for a nun-on-the-side backup career. Hey, most of us looking to make it big in the industry are stuck Partying Down at a shitty catering company day job while we hop to casting calls, but who are we to judge?
“When I was younger I thought about becoming a nun for a while. You know how it is when you're growing up and you're going to be a lot of different things, but I actually wanted to be an actress before I wanted to be a nun. The nun was more of a side-bar thing."
7. She was in to self-care before bullet journals were even a thing, speaking to Ellen Degeneres in 2014 about the palpable power of loving yourself:
"If you don't love yourself when someone else says horrible things to you, part of you is going to believe them.”
6. She was totally there for the genesis of Kim K’s much-contested stomach flu diet years before it was fodder for a massive twitter feud.
Philanthropist Heart: Hathaway, a longtime supporter and friend in solidarity to LGBTQ activist groups, she donated (a portion of) the proceeds from her wedding pictures to groups fighting for increased same-sex visibility and marriage. Some of the proceeds also went to benefit the American Cancer Society, St. Jude Children’s Research and The Girl Effect.
5. There’s no shame in her above-the-belly-button pants game:
"I am getting more daring now—I'll wear my mom jeans in public that haven 't been tailored 'just so' yet, just because they feel good. For a long time I was afraid of the harsh things people would say about me, but I might as well be happy."
4. Leandra Medine of Man Repeller fame (yes, check that out) is her style icon:
"Leandra Medine from [the blog] Man Repeller. I feel empowered by her. Not just her humor; she reminds me of Diana Vreeland. She wants girls to dress for themselves, be goofy, awesome girls. I have a Pinterest board, which is called Closet Crush, and it's just all her and Jane Birkin and a little Sophia Amoruso because I think she's fabulous too."
3. She was in Nolan’s The Dark Knigh Risest, but just because she got down with Batman doesn’t mean she’s a stranger to Mary Jane- Hathaway is fan of the Ganja just like the rest of us wondering who put the alphabet in alphabetical order. When asked by host Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live how much of a pot head the actress is, she replied:
Blaze it, Hathaway.
2. Along with her grace in fending off the venom of HathaHaters, Anne isn’t afraid to make a fool of herself for a few laughs late-night on SNL’s famed stage.
Above: Hathaway kills it as an unhinged and unstable Claire Danes from Showtime’s Homeland.
1. Hathaway ultimately proved she has the staying power to survive anything after slogging through James Franco’s bizarre abandonment and apathy during their Oscar-hosting gig.
Arguably the biggest night within the industry and Franco chose to completely disengage, smirking and even looking at his phone while still onstage- propelling Anne to work even harder to salvage the burning building of their bits. Like a true pro, Hathaway suffered through the cringe-worthy night with the smile of a dedicated performer even when most of her peers would have bailed. Pink-Dressgate, anyone?
Through it all, the Oscar-winning actress has shown that she has the talent, grace, philanthropic spirit, and green scene vibes to have a seat at the table.
You keep doin’ you, Anne.