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Anne Hathaway made a splash as Mia Thermopolis in 2001’s ThePrincess Diaries, but she already was schooled in ageism and sexism in Hollywood long before that. As she pursued a professional career during her formative years, there were certain people in the entertainment industry who were more than willing to let her know that a woman’s career in this town was short-lived.
The 41-year-old Oscar winner shared that shocking revelation with Net-a-Porter about why she is always appreciative to “be invited back to the table” because those stubborn ideas still exist in some (not all) studios executives’ brains. “When I started out [in this industry] as a child, I was warned that my career would fall off a cliff at the age of 35, which is something I know a lot of women face,” she explained. “The thing that has evolved during [that time] is that more women are having careers deeper into their lives, which I think is fantastic.”
Hathaway isn’t ready to throw Hollywood “a ticker tape parade” for the strides they have made over the years because she understands that it is still not enough right now. “Someone said this to me the other day: ‘There’s so much to be proud of and there’s so much to fix,’” she added. Her own slap in the face with sexism came in 2013 during the award show season for her role in Les Misérables. She was excited about her success, something men brag about daily, but Hathaway faced tremendous backlash for openly owning it.
It was a harsh lesson for her, and it took her years to address the pain she felt. “Ten years ago, I was given an opportunity to look at the language of hatred from a new perspective,” she revealed at Elle‘s Women in Hollywood event in 2022. “For context – this was a language I had employed with myself since I was 7. And when your self-inflicted pain is suddenly somehow amplified back at you at, say, the full volume of the internet … It’s a thing.”
But Hathaway thinks society can do better, it’s really a simple thing to embrace. “Be happy for women. Period,” Hathaway said. “Especially be happy for high-achieving women. Like, it’s not that hard.”
Before you go, click here to see all the celebrity women who have spoken out about ageism.
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