The Awakening

At the end of the affair, her ex went to prison and she became a star. Sally Singer meets the newly single Anne Hathaway and watches her shop and soar.

Topshop in Oxford Circus, London, is a vast, crowded, chaotic nexus of moms, teenagers, working girls, and, above all, stuff. There are piles of handbags and baubles and socks and hair doodads, and everywhere Kate Moss hovers gigantically. Just when you think you’ve found the aforementioned supermodel’s panther-clawed tunic in the right size, some Camden hipsteress with cherry hair and Siouxsie Sioux eyes is grabbing it by the other sleeve. Into this fast fashion fray, one day last October, steps Anne Hathaway, the movie star. Speaking of fashion with speed, Hathaway is wearing a nifty, nipped tweed blazer from Et Vous; a vintage Fred Perry tennis sweater; an Elizabeth and James plaid shirt; natural-waisted J Brand jeans; and slip-on Keds with rabbits drawn on the front. This is a girl who could teach even an NW1 punkette a thing or two about Lower East Side layering.

“Look, she’s buying cheap knickers!” somebody says. And, indeed, Hathaway is in the lingerie department, surveying the three-for-£7 panties in polka dots and funny florals—girly things. She’s also interested in camisoles, jumpsuits (she tries on a strapless black corseted romper), and things that in her mind fall into the “lounge around” category. “No one lounges around cuter than Kate Hudson,” she says. Hudson is her costar and a producer of Bride Wars, which opens this month. (Hudson says, “Annie would show up to work in the indie-mod thing that is her go-to. My go-to is jeans, Rick Owens, a blazer, and lots of bracelets. Hers is red sunglasses, tight black skinny jeans, shirt off the shoulder, cute beanie.”) Continue reading

Anne Hathaway’s gotten smart about many things, but especially Hollywood. A bona fide A-lister, the range of roles she’s chosen—and nailed—are making her a star for the ages

Anne Hathaway arrives for lunch with her brother and a thick, dog-eared copy of Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography. Her brother leaves, Gandhi stays, and both signify. Hathaway, who turns 26 this month with 16 films on her résumé, is in the throes of a career rise that’s meteoric in more ways than one. Those aren’t just any films. To surf from the instant fame at 19 of The Princess Diaries (2001) and its sunny follow-ups to the sophisticated challenges of Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (2005), David Frankel’s The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Julian Jarrold’s Becoming Jane (2007), Peter Segal’s Get Smart (2008), and Jonathan Demme’s newly opened Rachel Getting Married could give any young actor a DUI-inducing case of ego bends. Not Hathaway. At the mention of prestigious A-listers Lee and Demme in the same sentence, she lets out a laugh as healthy as it is incredulous and says, “Can you believe it?” Continue reading

Anne Hathaway sits in the corner of a Toronto restaurant, poring over a New York Times crossword puzzle. ”Feel free to contribute!” she says, sliding over to make room for her interviewer. Tonight, Hathaway’s new movie, Rachel Getting Married, will have its splashy North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, and the actress will don a fancy frock to do the red-carpet walk-and-wave. But at the moment, she’s enjoying sitting here in jeans and a plaid shirt, sharpening her puzzle-solving skills and chatting about the wild times she had last night. ”I ordered a simple meal, downloaded some episodes of The Tudors, and went to bed nice and early,” she says. Her smile, warm and ear-to-ear, is the same one that made her the idol of the elementary school set when it first flashed across the screen in The Princess Diaries seven years ago. ”You know those girls that, like, go out?” she says, sipping a soy latte. ”I’m just not confident enough to do that. I’m not the sort of girl that will throw on a short skirt and tease her hair up. I feel uncomfortable with attention. Truly, I am a wallflower by nature.” Hathaway’s preference for a low-key life has made her the rare young star not regularly pummeled by the Perez Hiltons of the world — until recently. ”Obviously,” she says, ”this summer was a little different.” Continue reading