The Shady Warning Anne Hathaway Got About Her Hollywood Career

Anne Hathaway has enjoyed a wildly successful acting career, dabbling in everything from drama to comedy to musicals. Even though Hathaway took home an Oscar for her supporting role in "Les Misérables," her journey to A-list stardom hasn't been an easy ride. Between dealing with depression from a young age and navigating body image issues in adulthood, Hathaway has faced tragic circumstances throughout her life. Unfortunately, "The Princess Diaries" star's struggles continued to multiply after she became a household name. During the early 2010s — what should've been the height of her career — she went through "Hathahate," a years-long period wherein the internet decided that she was uncool and therefore worthy of criticism.

Before achieving her widespread success, Hathaway was given some shady advice about what she could reasonably achieve during her career in Hollywood. "When I started out [in this industry] as a child, I was warned that my career would fall off a cliff at the age of 35, which is something I know a lot of women face," Hathaway shared with Porter. "The thing that has evolved during [that time] is that more women are having careers deeper into their lives, which I think is fantastic."

In her next chapter, Hathaway is leaving ageist career predictions in her rearview mirror with a new perspective.

As Anne Hathaway and countless other celebrity woman have spoken out about, female actors often experience unfair age-related career hurdles that their male counterparts rarely, if ever, encounter. However, Hathaway has also admitted to experiencing both sides of the coin. "I can't complain about it because I benefited from it," she said during her 2015 Glamour UK cover story. "When I was in my early twenties, parts would be written for women in their fifties, and I would get them ... Now, I'm in my early thirties and I'm like, 'Why did that 24-year-old get that part?' I was that 24-year-old once, I can't be upset about it, it's the way things are."

Unfortunately, Hathaway was temporarily dealt a double blow to her career. For a couple of years after "Hathahate" took off, she had trouble finding work in Hollywood. "A lot of people wouldn't give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online," the star revealed to Vanity Fair. She also credited renowned director Christopher Nolan for helping her career get back on track with her "Interstellar" role. "I don't know if he knew that he was backing me at the time, but it had that effect." And while she noted that her career did stall a little, it would have been worse without Nolan's co-sign.

Even though Anne Hathaway experienced a brief dip in the quality of roles she was offered in Hollywood following "Hathahate," she's certainly landed on her feet. Hathaway may have landed her breakout role at the age of 18, but she starred in some of her most popular titles after her 35th birthday, which took place on November 12, 2017. A few of her most popular recent titles include "Ocean's 8," "Eileen," and "The Idea of You," which ironically centers on a middle-aged mother striking up a whirlwind romance with a much younger, bright-eyed pop star. By the way, the film broke the record for the most-watched trailer for a streamer flick in history, with over 125 million views. So take that, haters!

Hathaway still has so much more that she wants to achieve within her career. "I know this sounds maybe disingenuous, but it is genuine, it is really how I feel. I feel like I'm just getting started," Hathaway shared during an October 2023 interview with The Wrap. "The M.O. has always been: choose the most interesting parts, with the best directors that'll have you. And in that way you will expand your range, you will learn how a set works, you'll just become a flexible, nimble, imaginative, hopefully free actor." We know the sky is the limit for Hathaway, no matter her age!