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Inside Anne Hathaway’s Life 5 Years After Getting Sober: ‘She Had to Build Up a Very Thick Skin’
The audience’s overwhelmingly positive reaction to her new film left Anne Hathaway teary. “You have no idea the gift that you’ve just given us,” she gushed at the premiere of The Idea of You in Austin on March 16. “I will never forget this screening.”
More praise for the flick — which debuted on Prime Video on May 2 — followed as Anne hit the promotion trail. But while things seem to be coming up roses for her of late, there’s plenty the actress wouldn’t mind forgetting — from being put in uncomfortable positions at work to seeing the man she’d discussed marrying imprisoned for fraud.
“Anne has been through so much, both publicly and privately,” an insider exclusively tells Life & Style. “She’s been famous since her teens and experienced scrutiny over her appearance, her personality, her fashion choices — she had to build up a very thick skin.”
Inside Anne Hathaway’s Acting Career
Anne, 41, became a household name in 2000s rom coms. Life behind the scenes wasn’t always so dreamy, though. The Princess Diaries star recently revealed that she had to kiss 10 guys to determine who she had “chemistry” with for one film. “I was told… ‘Aren’t you excited to make out with all of them?’ … I thought it sounded gross,” she recalled, noting she went along with the request during her “chronically stressed” youth. “I was so young and terribly aware how easy it was to lose everything by being labeled ‘difficult.’” It wasn’t the only time a situation appeared out of her control. Anne split from beau of four years Raffaello Follieri in 2008 after he was charged with running a high-stakes scam. He ultimately served four years in prison. “I spent a week in shock,” his famous ex has said, adding that the scandal left her more guarded. “The rug was pulled out from under me.”
Sadly, she’d be taken by surprise again when the internet exploded with hatred toward her. While a much-panned 2011 gig co-hosting the Oscars first sparked ire, matters hit a fever pitch once Anne won her own Academy Award in 2013 for Les Misérables. She’s said that her “toxic” identity online cost her roles and made her feel like she’d been “punched in the gut … My impression is that people needed a break from me.”
In the end, however, Anne says it was a “good thing” that helped her realize what was important. Welcoming sons Jonathan, 8, and Jack, 4, with husband Adam Shulman gave her additional perspective — and led to Anne getting sober over five years ago. “The way I drink leads me to have hangovers, and those were the problem,” she explained. “When I’m at a stage in my life where there is enough space for me to have a hangover, I’ll start drinking again.”
But things are pretty darn good as they are now. “I’m more grateful,” Anne has said. “I’m more settled in myself.”
