Anne Hathaway's Lessons from 2008
Oscar-nominated actress tells Barbara Walters about her life-changing year.
Feb. 19, 2009— -- On the cusp of the Academy Awards, 26-year-old best actress nominee Anne Hathaway is looking to the future after last year's difficult break-up with her longtime boyfriend, Italian real estate developer Raffaello Follieri.
Hathaway has remained mostly quiet about her personal life and her relationship with Follieri in particular, but in October she showed her ability to let go of the negativity during a performance on "Saturday Night Live." When recapping 2008 during her opening monologue, she joked that, "I broke up with my boyfriend ... and two weeks later he was sent to prison for fraud ... I mean, we've all been there, right, ladies?"
Follieri was arrested on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.
"The thing that I learned the most in this year is how lucky we are as people to have villages, to have tribes; that because in -- it's wonderful to be able to celebrate with people and it's wonderful to turn around to those same people in certain moments and say, 'I need help,'" Hathaway said. "And it's even better when you don't know, you can't even say the words, I need help -- and they just know and they just take care of you.
"This was the year that I really learned that being vulnerable is not being weak and that love is not just about giving, it's about receiving as well. That is a lesson that's also changed my life. And I was on the receiving end of a lot of love this year. And I'm very grateful for that."
Hathaway plans to just "keep swimming," advice she took to heart after watching "Finding Nemo."
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