Anne Hathaway Appreciation Post

Anne Hathaway in some of my favorite movies.

     While watching Becoming Jane (movie review coming soon!), I came upon the realization of how many Anne Hathaway movies I've seen and love! I counted at least 10 and I own about 7 of them. She really is a remarkable actress, from her breakout performance as gawky to gorgeous Princess Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries (at only 19) to her Academy Award winning performance as Fantine in Les Miserables. Her versatility is really what defines her as an actress that can jump from comedy (Bride Wars) to drama (The Other Side of Heaven) and character personalities such as sweet Jane Austen (Becoming Jane) and sultry Selina Kyle//Catwoman (The Dark Knight Rises).

Here are my top 5 favorite Anne Hathaway roles:

1.) The Princess Diaries//The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement 

as Princess Amelia 'Mia' Thermopolis Rinaldi 

The Princess Diaries (2001)

     Like with most people, the first movie I saw her is was the Princess Diaries. I mean, those movies are absolute Disney gold for the millennial generation. The world fell in love with the gawky high school student Mia Thermopolis whose only expectation in life was to be invisible, but that expectation very quickly changes when she discovers she's the future queen to the European country of Genovia. I loved seeing Mia's transformation, but that it didn't change who she was as a kind and sweet person. 

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)

     In Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, it's five years later, Mia is about to ascend to her family's throne, but finds out that to do so she must marry. So begins a romantic comedy of Shakespearean and Austen proportions of Mia's constant battle for her throne, her country and above all, her heart. I remember getting this movie for Christmas and my family all sat around in my sister's living room and watched it that day. Great memories!

2.) Becoming Jane

as Jane Austen

Becoming Jane (2007)

     This movie!!! It really needs to be on my my top 10 favorite movies list! I watched it for the first time in ages this week and was so struck by how engaging this film is. Anne portrays the legendary author Jane Austen whose quiet life as a poor Reverend's daughter in Hampshire, England is turned upside-down with the arrival of roguish and penniless lawyer, Tom LeFroy (James McAvoy) and their tragic love story that became the inspiration of her novels. I laughed and cried (like crazy) and Anne and James' onscreen romance was so captivating and thrilling (that library scene alone was so filled with sexual tension it was practically jumping out of the television screen).

3.) Les Miserables

as Fantine

Les Miserables (2012)

     Like a great many Les Miz fans, I was skeptical when I had heard that Anne Hathaway was cast as Fantine, but I would give her the benefit of the doubt. I was glad I did too, because her performance was extraordinary! She really brought to the role, the actual misery and despair that Fantine was in and the small spark of hope that she had in seeing her little girl again. I only cried two times in the film and both times included Fantine! I was so excited when she won best supporting actress at the 2012 Academy Awards, it was definitely an award well deserved. 

4.) The Devil Wears Prada 

as Andrea 'Andy' Sachs 

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

     Similar to the style (no pun intended) of The Princess Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada is about a raggedy nobody who gets an extreme makeover and finds an unexpected place in the world of fashion and glamour. Anne had a balanced mix of comedy and drama that made this a great watch and her acting against Meryl Streep was fantastic. You could really feel the loathing admiration that Andy had for her overbearing boss and how Andy herself was an up-and-coming model of the fashion editor. A great story that gives the inside look of the materialistic world that can either make or break you as a person.

5.) Bride Wars 

as Emma Allan

Bride Wars (2009)

     Another role where Anne plays a shy, but smart, working girl who has a surprising amount of sass and bluster when given the opportunity. When two best friends Emma Allan and Liv Lemer (Kate Hudson) find out that their dream weddings were accidentally scheduled on the same day, it's all out WWIII of the ultimate bridezillas one-uping one another with pranks and disasters. Both Anne and Kate are hysterical in a film the exaggerates the drama of weddings and brings to light the true importance of marriage, companionship and friendship.  

~ ~ ~

Anne Hathaway

     Whether comedy or drama, period or modern, Anne Hathaway's compelling personalities and acting talent in her wide array of films have just gotten better and better over the years. I'm still always going to remember her as Princess Mia, though! And a princess who eats pizza and dreams of her foot popping when she gets that first real kiss, isn't a bad role to be remembered as.