Why do people hate Anne Hathaway?

Question

I was talking to a friend recently and we were discussing some of our favourite movies. For me, hands down, it is Les Miserables (the new musical version, not the old Liam Neeson version). I was telling her how incredibly moving it is and what a great storyline it has, and she was looking interested and nodding her head in approval…until I mentioned the actors who star in it. Whilst High Jackman, Russell Crowe and Amanda Seyfried were all names recognized and approved of, you should have seen the look of disgust when I mentioned that it also starred Anne Hathaway! “Oh”, she said in a fairly dismissive tone, “I hate her, so I’ll probably never watch it.”  WHAT?! When I asked her why, she said she wasn’t sure but “isn’t she a really bad actress?” I told her she won an Academy Award for her role in Les Miserables, but she just replied that everyone hates Anne Hathaway and that she’s “annoying”. Did I miss something? Why do people hate Anne Hathaway? Is that even true? Do people hate her?

Answer 1

Yes, people really do hate her. I personally don’t know why, but if you type “Anne Hathaway” into Google, the first suggestion it comes up with is “Anne Hathaway unpopular”. Maybe it all goes back to those irritating Princess Diaries movies she did when she was about 15 (the old ugly duckling becomes a swan storyline).

Answer 2

Apparently it all started back in 2010 when she was first rumored to be in the running for the role of Catwoman for the latest Batman movie (The Dark Knight Rises…excellent movie, by the way). Anne Hathaway at the time had pretty much just done mainstream romantic-comedy fluff, and apparently the people of nerd world (you know who you are) were less than impressed to hear that sweet little Anne was going to play the sexy, femme fatale character of Catwoman. They started complaining online. Then it was actually announced that Anne Hathaway did indeed have the role as Catwoman and nerd world exploded in a riot of protest. This led to typical blogs about how much they “hated” her and what a “terrible actress” she was. Before you know it, this has become an online trending topic, a fad to be embraced by the mindless masses – if Twitter had been big back in 2011, #ihateannehathaway would have been a thing. Never mind the fact that she already had an Academy Award nomination for the black comedy Rachel Getting Married.

Answer 3

Have you ever seen Ella Enchanted? Bride Wards? Princess Diaries? If so, you probably have a pretty good reason for hating Anne Hathaway. Indeed, I think the answer to why do people hate Anne Hathaway can be found in the first 5 minutes of Ella Enchanted (it’s got a unicorn on the DVD cover…what more needs to be said?!). If, however, you’ve seen Rachel Getting Married, The Devil Wears Prada or Brokeback Mountain, then you’ll probably have a vastly different impression of Anne Hathaway as a person and an actress. I think the problem is, if you are the kind of person that watches edgy black comedy or moody dramas, then you’re probably not the kind of person who will watch sappy rom-com (and vice versa). I think that’s why people are either passionate pro or against Anne Hathaway – find someone who has watched all of her movies and then ask them.

Answer 4

After Anne Hathaway won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the UK’s Express wrote an article called “Why Is Anne Hathaway The Most Hated Star in Hollywood?” Talking about the Oscars, they quoted an online forum as saying “The best supporting actress winner almost won the most detested figure of the night” as well as quoting a reporter from Hollywood.com as saying “People do not like Anne Hathaway…their hatred is vehement.” The article went on to claim that most people hate her for her perceived lack of humility: scriptwriters preparing speeches, over-the-top acting while accepting awards, etc. Regardless of the myriad theories, I think the answer can best be summed up by another quote from the article, this time from film critic David Thompson, who simply said, “Deep down, we loathe celebrities.”