Anne Hathaway covers a plethora of topics in the new issue of Glamour magazine. The “Les Miserables” actress talks weight, career, marriage and helping to raise awareness to stop violence against women with One Billion Rising.
On the organization, One Billion Rising: “It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that a billion women have been raped or beaten, just the enormity of that. When I was in college, I’d heard that one in four women would be raped, and I thought, God, that means I must know someone who was raped. Sure enough, I found out a week later that a friend had been. A billion is too big because one is too big.”
On calling on one billion people to rise up and dance on February 14. “When I think back to some of the most fun nights of my life, it was just me out dancing without a care in the world. It’s a release, an outlet. And I’m a firm believer that we can tap into a collective energy and consciousness; on the 14th, even if you’re in a field dancing by yourself, you’re going to know you’re not alone. That’s something I hope we can carry forward as we resolve to protect ourselves and our sisters.”
On what celebrity is like: “You realize certain things. At this stage in my life—and this moment will not last forever—me walking my dog is news. And because I take very seriously the idea that I can make an impact in the world, I hold back my voice so I can make more of an impact when I do use it. A cause like One Billion Rising is something I want to scream about, and I want you to take that scream seriously because I don’t fall out of nightclubs. I don’t have photographers capture me spending untold amounts on a handbag. Of course, in the court of celebrity, if you try to be serious, you may look like a fool. In One Billion Rising you have activists and thinkers and “celebrities.” But I’m an actress. The celebrity thing just happened.”
On when she feels that she began to express herself in an authentic way: “I had that moment after I finished making Rachel Getting Married. I realized that the life I’d been living [was not authentic] and that I had to make a change. Then I found out that my trust had been betrayed quite massively. So for me,that call came at the end of 2007. Who was I going to be? There’s no magic bullet; there’s no pill that you take that makes everything great and makes you happy all the time. I’m letting go of those expectations, and that’s opening me up to moments of transcendent bliss. But I still feel the stress over “Am I thin enough? Am I too thin? Is my body the right shape?”
On what changed her mind about marriage: “Him. I would never have gotten married if it weren’t for him. You have to want to be married to someone. You have to feel that reciprocated. Marriage for marriage’s sake doesn’t make any sense to me, and I found someone with whom I could put my money where my mouth is, I guess. He’s a good man. He’s beyond intelligent. He loves fearlessly. His beliefs are beautiful. He’s my best friend. I love him. I just feel that I have the greatest husband in the world for me. You know, we get a lot of pressure to define ourselves as women by how wild we are: How many guys did you sleep with? How drunk did you get? And we all bow to that. We’ve all done that walk of shame at one point or another.”
On cutting off her hair: “I was faux Zen about it. I’d resolved to cut my hair for Les Mis and to do it on-screen to make it feel real. And then the morning came, and I was shaking like a leaf. I almost couldn’t do my job. When it was over, I went to the darkest corner of my trailer and I looked in the mirror, and I saw my little brother! But eventually I felt like the coolest girl in the world.”
Did it help with the role of Fantine in Les Mis? “It helped. I also lost 25 pounds for the role. It was visceral and painful and beautiful to play a woman who sacrificed so much for her child.”
Photos Courtesty of Glamour, Photographer: Alexei Hay
