by Nathaniel R
Anne Hathaway's latest star vehicle, The Hustle, a gender-flipped loose remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), debuted this weekend. We're happy to see her back when she belongs -- in a leading role on the big screen.
She's one of our greatest contemporary stars, the haters be damned. Thankfully the anti-Hathaway brigade has quieted down a bit after her savvy post-Oscar low profile. She started right at the top with the $100 million hit The Princess Diaries, a rare and delicious but precarious place to start as a teenager as there's usually only one way to go (you guessed it, down). But Hathaway proved resilient, weathering the rise to adult stardom with inarguable skill buoyed not just by remarkable beauty (those huge expressive eyes are a camera's dream) but by even more remarkable talent and versatility as an actor.
The star, now 36, has made 27 features. How many of her films have you seen? The poster are all after the jump...
Introducing Anne Hathaway - Fresh-Faced Starlet
THE PRINCESS DIARIES (2001)
THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN (2001)
NICHOLAS NICKLEBY (2002) NBR Ensemble winner
ELLA ENCHANTED (2004)
THE PRINCESS DIARIES 2 (2004)
HAVOC (2005)
What an introduction, huh? Not every A-Lister starts at the top. Hathaway was just 18 when The Princess Diaries hit movie theaters, becoming one of the 20 biggest hits of its year. She followed it up with more of the same young adult and family friendly material and then took her first adult risk with the little seen Havoc.
A Near-Perfect Transition to Adult Stardom
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005) SAG Ensemble nomination
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (2006)
BECOMING JANE (2007)
GET SMART (2008)
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (2008) Oscar, Globe & SAG Best Actress nomination. NBR and Critics Choice win
PASSENGERS (2008)
Either Hathaway is a gifted strategist or her management team is because her ascencion to the movie star A-List was as smooth but as range-testing as they come. A supporting role for a reknowned director (which became an Oscar hit), another comic blockbuster pairing her with a screen legend (a la Princess Diaries but with more adult material), a successful would be franchise starter (though no franchise emerged), and three projects to test her mettle as an actress, one of which netted her very first and very well deserved Oscar nomination (given the nominees that year, she should have won!).
The A-Lister and The Oscar
BRIDE WARS (2009)
VALENTINES DAY (2010)
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010)
LOVE & OTHER DRUGS (2010) - Golden Globe Nomination, Best Actress in a Comedy
ONE DAY (2011)
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)
LES MISERABLES (2012) Oscar, Globe, SAG, BAFTA & Critics Choice winner, Best Supporting Actress. SAG Ensemble nominee. NBR Ensemble winner
SONG ONE (2013)
INTERSTELLAR (2014)
Lots of headlining roles, a few huge hits, and a couple little seen experiments and all sorts of genres (continuing to prove she can do anything): sci-fi, comedy, romance, superhero, musical, drama, fantasy...
Act 3 The Post-Oscar Now (2015 - present)
THE INTERN (2015)
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (2016)
COLOSSAL (2016/2017)
OCEANS 8 (2018)
SERENITY (2019)
THE HUSTLE (2019)
Hathaway felt the sting of all the online hatred surrounding her Oscar ascension (Another pathetic case of people turning on a young actress for being successful -- how dare she!) and savvily retreated. She's returned now with somewhat mixed results: a modest but amiable hit, an uneccessary sequel, two strange and underseen future cult classics, and the current movie which has been mauled by critics but opened to decent if unspectacular box office this weekend.
The future looks exciting / busy. Up next: a supporting role in an untitled film with Todd Haynes (a great actors director); the lead in Dee Rees (Mudbound) directed drama The Last Thing He Wanted; risking the ghost of a GREAT Anjelica Huston performance in a remake of The Witches; and something called The Lifeboat about a woman who survives a shipwreck and stands trial for murder.
How much do you love Anne Hathaway and how excited are you for her future movies?
Previously on this season of Posterized
• Zhang Yimou
• Dame Judi Dench
• Regina Hall
• Julianne Moore