Special Interview Anne Hathaway - Life, work and a 'Colossal' workout plan
Special Interview Anne Hathaway - "If I had to give it up tomorrow, I've had such a fun run. I've really had some wonders in my time."
Anne Hathaway felt a bit adrift in her career - until she read the script for new movie Colossal. Anne Hathaway was feeling, in her own words, "creatively beige".
The 34-year-old had A-list status, an Oscar to her name (for 2012's Les Miserables), and wasn't short of offers of work, but she found herself "adrift between the shallow end and the deep end".
She admits: "I couldn't connect to the scripts I was sent. They all felt like versions of things that have been made."
A recommendation from The Silence Of The Lambs film-maker Jonathan Demme, who directed Hathaway in the 2008 drama Rachel Getting Married, helped the star out of her rut.
The director, who died last month aged 73, told Hathaway to watch Ben Wheatley's psychedelic film A Field In England. It gave the actress just the kick- start she needed.
New challenges
"This movie was so wild and technicolour and trippy and different, and I just knew that I wanted to make that - something that had the same qualities as that," she enthuses. "I wrote this email to my reps saying, 'Find me that'." A week later, Hathaway was sent the script for her new film Colossal, which has been described as a part-monster movie, part-romantic comedy.
"They [Hathaway's people] said, 'This is the weirdest thing we have'. I loved it because it was different in its DNA, but not trying to be different. It wasn't a pony painted as a unicorn. It was a pure unicorn."
Hathaway plays Gloria, an out-of-work party girl who moves back to her small hometown from New York after breaking up with her boyfriend Tim (played by former Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens). Back home, she reconnects with childhood pal and bar owner Oscar (Jason Sudeikis) and resumes her boozy ways.
Things take a strange turn when news emerges of a giant creature destroying Seoul in South Korea. Gloria discovers she is somehow connected to these far-off events when her every move at a local playground is mimicked, on an epic scale, by the rampaging monster. For all the supernatural elements, there's also a human tale in there, as Gloria falls victim to Oscar's jealous and controlling behaviour.
"It made me grateful I have never been in a relationship as abusive as that. It's resonating for a lot of people on that level," says Hathaway, who married actor Adam Shulman in 2012.
"It's about toxicity in general, it's about being a human being, that's what I liked about it."
It's all a far cry from The Princess Diaries, the sweet coming-of-age film that gave Hathaway her big break in 2001, or The Devil Wears Prada, her hit 2006 comedy with Meryl Streep.
Since making Colossal, Hathaway says she has "made an improvement in my attitude" when it comes to finding roles.
"I have a better approach to the search. As a result of identifying something I wanted to do, I've made myself better. I'm having an inspiration to find scripts that mean something to me."
Despite her beige moment before signing up for Colossal, it's clear Hathaway has no plans to give up the day job.
"I want to do everything. I want to do it for as long as they will let me. I want to be that lady in my 70s that they have to find a way around the insurance. I have ideas. I'm taking a lifetime approach."
But, she adds: "If I had to give it up tomorrow, I've had such a fun run. I've really had some wonders in my time."
The ‘Colossal’ weekly workout plan:
The actress discovered she was a fan of healthy living and fitness when preparing for her role of Cat Woman in Batman – the Dark Knight Rises.
To prepare for the role the actress danced daily for an hour and a half and stunt trained for a full hour every day.
To match the results we recommend you visit your Club and enjoy:
Euphoria x twice a week
Spartans x once a week
Crossfit x once a week
Find more inspiration in our special celebrity interviews.