Anne Hathaway reflects on intense online hate she experienced in the past

The actress recalled how Christopher Nolan backed her at the time.

March 25, 2024, 4:22 PM

Anne Hathaway has opened up about how online hate she received in the past almost ruined her acting career.

In an interview with Vanity Fair published Monday, the actress recalled a period after she won an Oscar for her role in "Les Misérables" in 2013 when she was widely mocked online.

She previously told the The Sun that she was shocked to see an article around that time titled "Why does everyone hate Anne Hathaway?"

Hathaway, the star and producer of Prime Video's "The Idea of You," scheduled to be released on May 2, revealed to Vanity Fair this week that the blowback after her Oscar win became more than just internet snarking.

PHOTO: Anne Hathaway sits down for an interview with Vanity Fair for the magazine’s April cover story.
Anne Hathaway sits down for an interview with Vanity Fair for the magazine’s April cover story.
Norman Jean Roy/Vanity Fair

"A lot of people wouldn't give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online," she told Vanity Fair.

Hathaway, 41, explained that it was Oscar-winning "Oppenheimer" director Christopher Nolan, who had previously cast her as Selina Kyle/Catwoman in 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises," who kept her career on track by casting her in his 2014 hit film "Interstellar."

"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," she 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."

She continued, "Humiliation is such a rough thing to go through. 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.' But if you want to do that, don't be an actor."

"You're a tightrope walker. You're a daredevil. You're asking people to invest their time and their money and their attention and their care into you. So you have to give them something worth all of those things," she added. "And if it's not costing you anything, what are you really offering?"

"The Idea of You" will be available to stream on May 2 on Amazon Prime Video.