Anne Hathaway: “I Learned Something About Love”

She is called the second Julia Roberts – because of the dazzling wide smile. And the second Julie Andrews – because she can sing professionally. But if you, like me, saw her walk into New York’s Water’s Edge restaurant, you would be as sure as I am: she simply can’t be a second Roberts or a second Andrews. She can’t be second at all. Between Julia and Julie, she will definitely find her place, only her place. And the first and will not strive. Like now – I let the waiter with a tray go ahead of me … “Because he is at work, and I just came to talk,” she will explain later. She has the manners of a native New Yorker – free plasticity and relaxed facial expressions with general courtesy: a child of a large, overpopulated city, she is clearly used to taking into account the interests of her neighbor. “And dad says to me: have you been on the subway for a long time? I answer him: I don’t need to update my impressions, the metro is always with me – it’s in my blood.

She does not flirt and does not play democratic politeness, she just knows exactly who she is and where she comes from. And that playing anywhere other than the stage and screen is inappropriate. Yes, and there’s no need – even now it’s as if a spotlight is directed at her: she has such white, such porcelain skin, and such bright eyes, and such disproportionate – and fantastically harmonious – lips … And just starting a conversation, I suddenly understand: a girl in jeans, a blue shirt in a small, exquisitely cornflower blue check and blue suede moccasins, this beauty and star is strikingly similar … to a boy, an angular boy, a tomboy and a bully.

Psychologies: How do you feel, Anne, does your beauty help you live?

Ann Hataway: Thanks for the compliment, of course. I find that my face really has an advantage – it is changeable, gutta-percha. Useful thing in our business. As for beauty… I don’t think it’s such a necessary thing. Millions of people live without it and are happy. You can also be happy with her. But certainly not thanks to her.

Are you saying that you don’t care much about looks?

E.H.: His? I attach. She is of great importance: because of her, I will not get many interesting roles, because of her, they don’t particularly sympathize with me in trouble – as if I were a priori luckier than others. I view appearance as a tool. But others can be used as well. Brains, for example.

Is that what you thought when you were a teenager?

E.H.: As a child, I was a tomboy, and as a teenager, I was a jerk. Besides, I wasn’t pretty at all. Until the age of 14, I went exclusively in the shirts of my older brother and boys’ boots, and after 14 … Well, I’m from the 90s, from the “grunge” generation! Of course, she wore some kind of rags with an ethnic accent and despised cosmetics. And my parents suffered with me: my teenage hormonal rebellion expressed itself in depression, fits of rage and hatred for myself, for my own body in particular. And as a result, to everyone around. By the age of 18, I began to look at myself from the outside and stopped looking completely outrageous. In addition, a high school friend received a two-face flyer for a Lancome make-up session. When the makeup artist finished the job, I was shocked! I liked myself, and it was a shock. And most importantly, I liked this ritual – self-care, self-decoration, even correction. There was some deep femininity in him. The one that I didn’t know about before: before that, I thought that putting on makeup was painting your face. But then I realized: this is a process of improving yourself through attention to yourself. Self-care is synonymous with self-respect. I didn’t have enough of him. Since then, I have been calm about my … physical incarnation.

So you separate yourself from your body? Your body is not you?

E.H.: After traveling for charitable purposes in some countries where thousands of people were affected by anti-personnel mines, and meeting with these people, I said to myself: it’s stupid to regret that you don’t have a very small waist and the “lower floor” is heavy – at least you can walk. The body takes me where I want to go – in a career and territorial sense. I train him in the gym and dress him. But I’m not one of those who need three dressing rooms. At heart, I’m almost a downshifter.

Yes, many people know the story of how you refused to take all those designer things that were filmed in The Devil Wears Prada …

E.H.: Why do I need them? For formal occasions, there is a suit, but in my circle they don’t dress like that.

That is, you, a Hollywood star, have some special circle in which Prada is not worn?

E.H.: In these cases, I say: and God does not wear Prada! And my circle is stable: university friend Teresa, cousin Meredith, brothers, Mike and Tom. Mike works as my assistant, or rather ally and adviser, and Tom studies in Britain, at Oxford, but we talk for hours on Skype when he has a night, and we have an evening in New York … I also have three school friends and wonderful company from the college – that’s who knows how to light! And of course, parents. And I brought only one friend from cinema to life – Emily Blunt, with whom we played together just in “The Devil …”. And we were starving together because my character from Andy Size 6 had to be Andy Size 2, and Emily had the same drama. It is impossible to forget how we cried, embracing, from hunger. This is almost a front-line friendship.

If you’ve already mentioned God… They say you, like your entire family, came out of the bosom of Catholicism when your older brother decided not to hide the fact that he was gay – because the Catholic Church condemns homosexuality. Would you like to find more tolerance with God?

E.H.: In general, I would like to find God. I’m in the process. And I don’t know if I’ll find it. And what is he. But we abandoned Catholicism not because we are looking for a comfortable faith, but out of solidarity. Not the worst of feelings, agree. Why do I need such a religion that separates me from my own person? It was important for me to show my brother that I was with him in any circumstances, no matter who he was. That he does not have to fight for us to accept him for who he is. This is the worst of battles, trust me.

Did you yourself take part in this kind of struggle? I mean the situation with your ex-boyfriend…

E.H.: … convicted of financial fraud. You know, two years have passed since then, I avoided talking about this topic. And since the scandal surrounding Raffaello was very loud, it was not possible to completely get out – for example, in an interview on TV. And I laughed it off. But I was shocked, just shocked, how easily I was judged.

It was not a nervous breakdown, but principles?

E.H.: Listen, psychotherapists have done a lot of good, but also a lot of harm – now, instead of a sound moral assessment, everyone gets a diagnosis! A lazy child is recognized as suffering from an attention deficit, an illiterate student is recognized as dyslexic. But I have no principles, but a neurosis. Okay, imagine the situation. It took place shortly after my break with Raffaello, but before his arrest. My brother and I are at LAX, flying to New York. We are in line for security checks. Then the man in front turns to me and asks so lightheartedly: “Anne, is your brother a faggot?” I already swung to light him … But someone grabbed my arm from behind. Old man. He later explained that the boor’s call was like putting a check in his pocket: among the paparazzi, a competition was clearly announced with a gold prize for a photo of me crying … This man and my brother grabbed me, pushed me out of the queue and brought me to some kind of nook behind the column , where I burst into tears … Of course, I understand: the person who kept me was right, thanks to him. But, you know, you still had to embed! There must be a balance of justice in nature.

Do you think it’s better to believe in the balance of good and evil?

E.H.: Certainly. In the balance of justice – yes. I value loyalty most of all, I can forgive everything, except for deception of trust. And she herself is a devoted person, simply by nature. And then I was accused of betrayal, and even someone decided to cash in on this – and you can’t fight back?

So you want it to be like in the movies, like in your “The Devil Wears Prada” – the boss, the monster and the tyrant, gets what she deserves in the finale, and the good girl finds happiness?

E.H.: OK. I’ll tell you a story. And it was told to me by one person, now a producer, when I was collecting material just for “The Devil …”. After all, I played the personal assistant to the editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine, so I asked people who had ever worked as personal assistants to significant people. And that producer said that in his youth he worked as a personal assistant to an actor, a celebrity, then a megastar. Once he had to tell his boss extremely unpleasant news, not tragic, but unpleasant – about money. He spoke for a while, and the actor turned around and how he would punch him in the face! He instinctively dodged, thanks to boxing at school, but felt cold on his face – from a wave of air. That same evening, the actor sent a luxury car to his house, a gift. And that assistant accepted it. And he continued to work with the actor. Because the actor tried – yes, embarrassingly, with a thing, only a thing – but to restore the balance of justice in the world. Sorry.

If you were an assistant, would you accept a gift?

E.H.: Me not. If I took it, I would always feel that cold wave on my face. According to my principles, the star should have apologized for real, looking into the eyes of the victim. Money cannot buy justice. Injustice is not compensated by a thing. But I count the try. Because I know, now I know: behind every minus of life there is a plus, after failure – a lesson, after a loss – a new opportunity. My parting with Raffaello made me remember the principles. A British comedian once said, “The worst thing that happens to you can be the best thing for you if it doesn’t beat the best out of you.”

Is it true that some time ago you thought about quitting acting?

E.H.: Truth. I didn’t understand what I was doing so important, playing princesses. Raising my acting rate? Growing a career? Just then, Ang Lee offered me a role in Brokeback Mountain. I think I’ll play and then we’ll see. And then we went to Venice for the festival … I had not seen the film before the screening there. If you remember, I appear far from the beginning of the picture. And just before my first episode, I flew out of the hall. She got out of the group box, from her place of honor, and ran to the toilet – to close herself in a booth and catch her breath. The film was so beautiful, so sensual, so poignant. It became clear to me: I will appear and ruin everything. But I had to go back, and I forced myself. Came in just in close-up of her bare chest! Oh, this is a special feeling … “Well, at least bravely,” I said to myself. And I somehow felt better. Clearer. By remaining an actress, I will be able to relate to such films. Films that can change the world.

And you realized that you want to change the world for the better?

E.H.: Just not. That is, yes. I mean, you know, then I kind of woke up. Dad, my dad, who insisted that I go to university because education disciplines the brain, always says: every thought must be thought through to the end. Even if it’s scary, if it’s unpleasant, you can’t dwell on the answer that satisfies you at the moment. We must think further. And moving on, I realized: this is perfectionism. Perfectionism – to believe that you should do something ideal, certainly important, change the world for the better. And the Chinese, they say, have this proverb: “It is easier to change the world than your own life.” In a word, since then I have been doing what I consider important not absolutely, but on my own, small scale: I am learning to cook – and no one does it worse than me! – I play in films that someone may like, even if it’s not the fact that in masterpieces.

Are you going to change your life in any way?

E.H.: Get married, for example? This is strange: I am a family man, the people closest to me are my relatives, dad, mom, brothers. My parents have been together for 28 years, I don’t romanticize their relationship at all, they have gone through everything, but they are together and we are a family. And I see myself in a family, but I don’t see myself at all in a marriage that has signed some kind of marriage obligations. I don’t know how to resolve this contradiction. But I’ll probably find out later. In life, sooner or later you always learn something that you did not know before.