The Real Reason Anne Hathaway Hates Being Called 'Anne'

Being called the wrong name is possibly the most annoying and embarrassing thing one could experience. Getting someone's name wrong makes for awkward conversations, including the dilemma of whether to correct said person who got it wrong. Just ask Anne Hathaway — the actress we know and love from The Princess Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada, Les Miserables, and more — who revealed to fans that they've actually been calling her the wrong name all these years. Cue the jaw drops.

While appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Jan. 12, 2021, Hathaway was triggered by Jimmy Fallon calling her by the name that she has been known for over the past 22 years. "Call me Annie, everybody. Everybody, call me Annie, please," Hathaway pleaded directly with viewers before launching into a story about how her name came to be and why she prefers to be called another name. Turns out, it all started with a common, but rookie mistake.

"When I was 14 years old, I did a commercial and had to get my SAG card and they asked me, 'Well, what do you want your name to be?'" Hathaway explained to Jimmy Fallon on air. "And I was like, 'Well, it should be my name. My name's Anne Hathaway.' So that seemed like the right choice, but it never occurred to me that for the rest of my life, people will call me Anne."

Hathaway explained her resentment of "Anne" comes from how it's used in her personal life.

"The only person who calls me Anne is my mother, and she only does it when she's really mad at me, like, really mad," the Ocean's 8 star shared. "So every time I step out in public and someone calls my name, I think they're going to yell at me."

The fear is amplified when fans call her by her first name. "People are like, 'Anne!' And I'm like 'What? What did I do?!'" she joked.

Hathaway concluded the segment by saying that she prefers to be called "anything but Anne."

Hopefully now that Hathaway's cleared the air, she can truly let go of her former identity.