Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress and singer. Hathaway made her acting debut in the 1999 television series Get Real, but her first prominent role was in Disney’s family comedy The Princess Diaries (2001), which established her career.

She continued to appear in family films over the next three years, and she had the lead roles in Ella Enchanted and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (both 2004). Hathaway took more creative control over her career in 2005 and co-starred in the adult-themed Havoc and Brokeback Mountain, both requiring extensive nude scenes, as well as The Devil Wears Prada (2006), in which she starred opposite Meryl Streep.

That film has become the highest-grossing film of her career. Becoming Jane, in which she stars as Jane Austen, was released in 2007. Hathaway’s acting style has been compared to that of Judy Garland and Audrey Hepburn, and she cites Hepburn as her favorite actress and Streep as her idol. People magazine named her one of 2001’s breakthrough stars and in 2006 she was listed as one of the world’s 50 Most Beautiful People

Hathaway began appearing in less comedic-oriented films after The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. She said that “anybody who was a role model for children needs a reprieve”, although she also noted that “it’s lovely to think that my audience is growing up with me”, a reference to her previous status as a children’s actress.

She voiced a version of Little Red Riding Hood in Hoodwinked (2005), which received generally mixed reviews. That same year, Hathaway was cast in the mature-rated Havoc (2005), in which she played a spoiled socialite. In a surprise move, Hathaway was featured in several nude and sexual scenes throughout the film .

She also appeared in the drama Brokeback Mountain (2005), opposite Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, appearing nude in the film as well. Havoc was not released in theatres in the United States (but was later released in other countries) because of its weak critical reception, but Brokeback Mountain won rave reviews for its depiction of a homosexual relationship in the 1960s, and received several Academy Award nominations, including “Best Picture”. Hathaway asserted that its content was more important than its award count.

Hathaway’s next film was The Devil Wears Prada (2006), in which she starred as an assistant to a powerful fashion magazine editor (Meryl Streep, whom she described as being “just divine”). Hathaway said that working on the film earned her respect in the fashion industry, but she claims that her personal style is something she “can’t get right” and instead prefers “doing the things she loves”.

In an interview with Us Weekly, Hathaway spoke about her weight loss for the film. “I basically stuck with fruit, vegetables and fish (to slim down for the movie). I wouldn’t recommend that. Emily Blunt and I would clutch at each other and cry because we were so hungry.”

Hathaway was initially cast in the 2007 comedy Knocked Up but dropped out before filming began. Writer/director Judd Apatow stated in a May 2007 issue of The New York Times Magazine that Hathaway dropped out “because she didn’t want to allow us to use real footage of a woman giving birth to create the illusion that she is giving birth.” Katherine Heigl replaced Hathaway.

In an August 2007 interview with Marie Claire magazine, Hathaway commented on an unnamed film “I turned [it] down … because it was going to show a vagina — not mine, but somebody else’s. And I didn’t believe that it was actually necessary to the story.”

Hathaway was then seen in Becoming Jane, in which she stars as English writer Jane Austen, released in mid 2007. She will also star as Agent 99 in the screen adaptation of the TV series Get Smart, which will premiere in 2008.

She also dropped out of playing the part of Johanna in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, resulting in being replaced by Jayne Wisener, a completely unknown actress. It was announced in January 2008 that Hathaway would be joining beauty giant, Lancome, as the face of their newest fragrance to be launched in September 2008.

Hathaway enjoys interior design and reading as pastimes, and has stated that she is a non-denominational Christian. She has cited Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead (1943) as her favorite novel. Since 2004, Hathaway has been in a relationship with real estate developer Raffaello Follieri.

In regards to personal strife and subsequent media attention, Hathaway’s self-subscribed mantra is a quote by Oscar Wilde: “the less said about life’s sores the better.”