| Anne Hathaway Strips The Tiara To Show Her True Soul - Page 4 |
| Written by Christina M. Hinke | ||||||
| Wednesday, 06 September 2006 12:14 | ||||||
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Q: Did you have to chase the part down? Did you read the book by Laura Weisberger?
Looking good in red
Hathaway in "The Devil Wears Prada"
Hathaway has come a long way since her 2001 breakthrough role in "The Princess Diaries" AH: Well, I have apprehension about all my characters. And I always firmly believe there's someone else better for the part out there, which I do believe for Jane Austen, but I was the girl who won the part, and I really wanted to play her. Q: Meryl said that great beauty can sometimes get in the way of an actress. Is this something you're concerned about? AH: Oh god, no (laughs). No, I've never been thought too pretty for anything. I'm very good at looking plain as well so I don't think I have that to worry about. Q: "Nicholas Nickelby" was an underrated film. What were your memories of that? AH: Kissing Charlie Hunnam. "Nicholas Nickleby" was my first experience kind of being method, because -- and it was accidental method because I worked about 11 days on the film. I was there for two months. And I was playing this character that used to live this isolated life, and I was living on my own in London, and didn't know anyone. It was my second time abroad. My first time was doing press for "The Princess Diaries" and I went to Australia. So it was really kind of this big moment where I had to grow up, so I just remember kind of, you know, being jet-lagged all the time, and trying to think of characters, and trying to think of my character. Also going to see great theatre. And also Doug McGrath is just the loveliest man and I think is a very underrated director. So, good memories working with him. Q: You are playing Jane Austen next. Is "Becoming Jane" a drama? AH: The first half is surprisingly a romantic comedy, and then it veers into tragedy. It's not really a conscious decision to stick to one genre or move to another, I'm just learning how to act, basically, and I think the best way to do that is to do the opposite of the last thing you did. Whether that be the genre of the film that you did, the cast you would be working with, or the character that you play, just describing something different about the experience to kind of justify giving up a good happy year of your life for it, because I do a lot of research. Yes its three months on the set, but hopefully its two months of research beforehand. Q: Ever think about abandoning acting to pursue writing or art? AH: Well, whenever I have a bad day on the set, I just say, that's it, I'm going to go and become a kindergarten teacher and like have a dozen children and be really happy. Ah, yeah, there are always a million reasons to quit, and god knows it's tempting when it gets tough. But I love what I do, and I won't be as happy doing anything else. It's becoming more complicated with each project, but I'm also learning more and growing in ways. I'm at a point now that I didn't even know [some things] existed when I was 15. And I can't deny that. This is the environment that I thrive in. So I think that if I want to be the best human being I can be it won't necessarily be choosing the easiest task. It'll be tough, and I accept that. I've already had a few ups and downs in my short time and I'm sure there's a lot more along the way. You learn the most from those experiences.
The Fashion Queen Q: It seems Lureen was obviously the most fashionable one in "Brokeback Mountain," kind of spoke the fashion of the times. Did you work with the costume designer? AH: Oh, yeah. Lureen liked to be the center of attention. She was wild. She was a predator. She liked to do things wholehoggish you would say. Yeah. It was very important. She's a tough girl, but she's definitely a girl's girl. She's a daddy's girl and she's from Texas. She wanted to look good. So she was kind of doing her small town version of the big styles of the time. Q: Did you keep any of the outfits? AH: No. But I did keep a pair of my cowboy boots. They let me keep a pair of those. They're so comfy. I wear them everywhere, except today. Q: What did you want to keep from "Prada?" AH: I really wanted to keep the Chanel boots. You know, the ones that go all the way up to my imaginary places. There was one coat that I wore in the film that, when it was being auctioned off, you could tell by the look on my face that I was really like emotionally saying goodbye to it, and then . . . he (my boyfriend) bid on it. It's a beautiful Kelly Green vintage coat that I just love. Q: Was Patricia Fields collaborative? AH: She kind of had to force me to be collaborative. I was ready to just sit back and let her do whatever she wanted because she was brilliant. We came up with a strategy for Andy's look together. In the beginning I was afraid to make suggestions. I would make suggestions and sometimes she would like it and I would feel really good and cool, sometimes she would say no that doesn't really work. But Rather than be dismissive or short with me she would sit down with me and explain as though we had all the time in the world, and believe me we didn't, explain why one belt worked better than the other. She wasn't interested in just having it be her way. She really wanted to bring me along with it and teach me. Q: Did you try to learn about fashion? AH: I kind of knew a little bit about fashion, but I was always intimidated by it. It seemed like a club that I couldn't be a part of, that I wasn't cool enough to be a part of. I don't really think of it as a club anymore. Ultimately fashion is the product of collective decisions. I do understand now much better than fashion, which I still kind of don't get spending $10,000 for a blouse, but I do understand people's style a lot more, and I understand my own. A sense of that grew from this project. Q: How funny was it for you to be called fat in the film? AH: I thought it was just funny. Sadly enough we we're not making fun of that mentality, it's really true. I accepted long ago that I'm a curvy girl. Rather than saying, and there is nothing wrong with that, no, I'm just a curvy girl, there is nothing to justify. Some clothes that are more designed based, actually they just look better on women that are built like wire hangers just because it's the nature of the design. I won't wear those clothes. I can't. It will make the dress look bad; it will make me look bad in them. So I just try to find the designs that work for me. Q: Which Andy best reflects your personal style? AH: I've never been the beginning Andy. I did always try, but I failed. My style, I'd have to say is actually really close to Andy at the end of the film. No brand name designers stick out to you in that outfit, but you know it's really nicely put together. That's kind of what I try to go for. With the exception of Chanel, I will wear the giant Cs anywhere.
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