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Dreamboat Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway's charming take on life, heartbreak and discovering her inner freak!
By Noreen Flanagan
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Check out our slide show of Anne's classy style
Anne Hathaway fell madly in love during the filming of her latest movie, Rachel Getting Married. From the moment they met, it was an emotional, almost-primal attraction, she says; when the relationship came to an end, it was crushing. "It was hard to let her go," explains Hathaway. "I found myself holding on to her and crying if I went a day without considering how Kym would feel about something - I love her so much."
The star of The Devil Wears Prada and Get Smart hadn't embarked on a gal-pal union like Samantha Ronson and Lindsay Lohan. The woman who captivated Hathaway's heart was the character she plays in Jonathan Demme's latest drama about a profoundly troubled family. Unresolved issues come to a head as they gather for the weekend to celebrate daughter Rachel's wedding. The spark behind the tension is Rachel's sister, Kym, a recovering addict on a weekend pass from rehab.
"There are a few moments in the film where you feel like you're part of the family," explains Hathaway. "One is during Kym's rehearsal toast. Suddenly you're not watching a movie; you're actually in pain for another human being who is making this awkward, horrific speech."
Hathaway - who in the past has talked openly about her struggles with depression and anxiety - became so emotionally connected to Kym's angst that she began to exhibit physical signs of stress. At times, her hands would be trembling - something that rarely happens to Hathaway - and during the scene in which Kym talks about her involvement in the death of her younger brother, Hathaway breaks out in hives. "When I saw that in the film, I was so proud of myself," she says.
With her jagged cropped hair, fragile frame and bereft facial caste, Hathaway's emotional performance will definitely change the public's girl-next-door perception of her. She insists that the shift wasn't intentional but says she definitely grew from the experience. "You won't always like what Kym says, but she always has a point and she's always honest," says Hathaway. "I had so much fun being as free as her. I realized that I was limiting my quality of life by trying to decide what people should like about me. It's born of good intentions, but, technically, it's a very arrogant thing to do. I just started being more honest about what I wanted and got comfortable with the idea that it's okay to be the squeaky wheel sometimes. Life is so much better when you take the pressure off yourself to be an idea and start being whoever the hell you are."
While Kym was the vehicle for this personal transformation, Hathaway credits director Demme with changing her life by helping her discover her "closeted inner freak." Meeting Ang Lee also marked an important before-and-after moment in her life: Before Brokeback Mountain, Hathaway says she didn't have much faith in herself as an actress. "I had no idea if I would ever do anything worth watching, and he pulled something out of me that was worthwhile," she says. "The movie so belongs to Ang, the boys and Michelle, but I thought if I could be involved in a film of this quality, I would put up with church-basement theatre to stay in this world."
It's unlikely that Hathaway will be returning to the homespun theatre scene anytime soon. Since she started doing commercials at the age of 13, her wide-eyed beauty and endearing persona have charmed casting agents and directors. Her first break was landing a part on the Fox series Get Real. She had flown from New Jersey to L.A. - only the second time she had been on a plane - and was smitten with the prospect of becoming an actress like her mother, Kate McCauley. "I was on the Fox lot when they told me I had the part," she recalls. "I remember looking up and spotting a billboard for The Sound of Music, with Julie Andrews high on the hill with her arms outstretched. I burst into tears because it was exactly how I felt. Within a year, I was working with Julie on The Princess Diaries, so that was pretty cool."
Image courtesy of Dominique Charriau/WireImage.com
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