Anne Hathaway is the nicest celebrity in Hollywood.
I put up an answer to this on another similar question, about a friend’s meeting her in person, but had to take it down because of some really vicious comments opposed to Anne Hathaway’s wonderful work on behalf of the LGBTQ community, but here is my significantly shorter answer.
One of my friends, a young actress, recently moved to Hollywood, and had a “brush with fame” meeting the actress Anne Hathaway.
She met Anne at a big party and even though my young friend had nothing to offer Anne, no money, no fame, no media attention, no advancement of any kind, nothing that would have helped Anne out at all, Anne took her under her wing, sat with her, held her hand, hugged her, befriended her, made her feel important, gave her advice about the movie world, sang a little to/with her, rapped for her, got HER a drink, chose her company over many of the top actors in Hollywood, made her feel…stunned but important and wonderful.
Anne Hathaway gave her a gift, a gift of hope in that “dod-eat-dog” world of Hollywood. (Actually it’s far worse than that: it’s “dog-does-not-return-other-dog’s-texts.”)
One of the truest measures of character is when you are kind to someone who can not give you anything to further your own cause. And that’s Anne Hathaway, The Nicest Star In Hollywood, giving to my friend the gift of her time, attention, knowledge, experience and kindness.
I’ve put at the bottom some of Anne Hathaway’s foundations/causes that she truly spends more time on than her acting career.
Anne has gotten the reputation as being “the most hated star in Hollywood” because some think she is trying too hard to be sincere, she tries too hard on talk shows to be funny and casual, that she “puts on” too much.
I started my acting career on screen but quickly moved to the stage and was very, very happy as a classical actor. (I loved and needed the live audience rather than a red light on a camera.) I ended up the director of my own theater company which focused on theater and art projects for people with serious and persistent mental illness, people like myself who has battled depression on and off for decades.
I ended up as a full time professional speaker and writer talking about the personal experience and struggles of living with depression but also of the gifts it can also bring.
Standing in front of thousands of people as me saying my own words was infinitely harder than being on a stage as Hamlet speaking Shakespeare’s words.
I personally know that when you do either film or stage work you go up there with the words and characterizations of people that have spent refining and perfecting those words for decades. They are wonderful, sad, funny, happy, despairing lines to hide behind.
When you go on a talkshow, for instance, you have little idea what is going to be said or what’s going to happen. You don’t have wonderful lines and characters to hide behind: it’s just…you. And that’s terrifying for anyone.
(The Washington Post recently had a survey that found that fear of public speaking was #1 even before heights, bugs/snakes, drowning, blood/needles, claustrophobia, flying, strangers, zombies, darkness, clowns or ghosts in that order.)
Some stars are fantastic at going on truly relaxed, some at “acting” relaxed, some can feign relaxation because they are high as a kite or drunk as a skunk.
Anne Hathaway may be an academy-award winning actress…but the truth is she is incredibly, painfully shy in front of talkshow cameras. She does the best she can to brass it out, but it’s the hardest thing for her. When she was asked to host the Oscars a couple of years ago, she initial said yes and then wasn’t able to get out of it in time to replace her, and she has agonized about it to this day.
From ALL accounts she is a wonderful mother, a good and faithful wife, a peerless friend and I personally know from my friend’s time with her, (she timed it, 27 minutes Anne spent with just her at a big, fancy Hollywood party,), a generous and kind soul. My friend personal shared that she is hilarious, even goofy, incredibly intelligent, can really rap, has no idea she’s beautiful and even if she did it wouldn’t matter to her, and is still a “real” person, just “Anne,” not some pouty, spoiled, “glamourious” Diva.
Just “Anne.”
Charities and Foudations Anne Hathaway supports with her time, money, attention, influence.
- 10x10
- Alzheimer's Association
- Clinton Foundation
- Creative Coalition
- Feeding America
- Friends Without A Border
- GLSEN
- Human Rights Campaign
- It Gets Better Project
- Lollipop Theater Network
- Naked Heart Foundation
- Oxfam
At UN Official Commemoration Of International Women's Day
Anne Hathaway Named UN Women Goodwill Ambassador
Hathaway has served as a long-term advocate for the Nike Foundation to raise awareness against child marriage.
In July 2006, she spent a week in Nicaragua to help vaccinate children against Hepatitis A.
She has also traveled to other countries to heed the rights of women and girls, including Kenya and Ethiopia.
In 2008, she was honored at Elle magazine's "Women in Hollywood" tribute and won an award from the Human Rights Campaign for her philanthropy;
Was also honored for her work with Step Up Women's Network in 2008.
[She then teamed up in 2010 with World Bank in a two-year development program The Girl Effect whose mission focuses on helping empower girls in developing and developed nations where one-third of young women are not employed and not in school.
[In 2013, she provided the narration for Girl Rising, a CNN documentary film, which focused on the power of female education as it followed seven girls around the world who sought to overcome obstacles and follow their dreams.
Hathaway is involved with charities the Creative Coalition, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Human Rights Campaign.
She is a supporter of LGBT rights and has donated money to organizations that support gay marriage.
In 2016, Hathaway was appointed UN Women Goodwill ambassador based on her advocacy for gender equity. The following year, she spoke on International Women's Day in favor of paid parental leave for both men and women.
To promote an increased awareness of systematic sexism in the entertainment industry, Hathaway has advocated for greater professional opportunities for women and criticized Hollywood as not being a place for equality.
In 2018, she collaborated with 300 women in Hollywood to set up the Time's Upinitiative to protect women from harassment and discrimination.
Hathaway has also spoken out against the issues of bullying of gay students, discrimination toward transgender children and white supremacy.
And she helped my friend when she had no reason to except that she is a kind person.
Anne left my friend with this quote:
“We must endure finite disappointments but never lose infinite hope.”-Martin Luther King.
“Anne Hathaway: Most Hated Star In Hollywood.”
My ass.
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