Anne Hathaway has credited Christopher Nolan as an “angel” for offering her a role in the 2014 sci-fi epic Interstellar shortly after her Oscar win, even though her online reputation had turned “toxic” at the time.
Hathaway reflected on her acting career – including some of its rougher moments – during an interview with Vanity Fair. She noticed work dried up after she co-hosted the Oscars in 2013 and took home the honor of best supporting actress for Les Misérables as studios became concerned about the vitriolic comments online.
“A lot of people wouldn’t give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online,” Hathaway revealed candidly. “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.”
The infamous “Hathahate” phenomenon caused Hathaway’s public image to crumble, as people created an online smear campaign to share their less-than-desirable opinions about the actress. Unfortunately for Hathaway, the increased exposure led to increased scrutiny — but Nolan, who had worked with Hathaway on 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, drowned out the voices and cast her in his blockbuster movie Interstellar alongside Matthew McConaughey, which may have been the role that ultimately saved her career.
“I don’t know if he knew that he was backing me at the time, but it had that effect,” Hathaway said. “And my career did not lose momentum the way it could have if he hadn’t backed me.
“Humiliation is such a rough thing to go through,” she added. “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. And if it’s not costing you anything, what are you really offering?”
Since starring as scientist Dr Amelia Brand in Interstellar, Hathaway has appeared in a wide variety of roles, playing the owner of a fashion website in 2015’s The Intern, a self-obsessed socialite in 2018’s Ocean’s 8, and a cunning con artist in 2019’s The Hustle. She also received praise for her role in the 2022 miniseries WeCrashed.
IGN’s review of WeCrashed called Hathaway “a force to be reckoned with” in her portrayal of Rebekah Neumann, noting that “the Oscar-winning actress is the victor that steals the spotlight whenever she is on screen” alongside Jared Leto, who plays her husband Adam (and the co-founder of WeWork, a coworking space company).
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter @AdeleAnkers.