Anne Jacqueline Hathaway was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Kate McCauley Hathaway, an actress, and Gerald T. Hathaway, a lawyer, both
originally from Philadelphia. She is of mostly Irish descent, along
with English, German, and French. Her first major role came in the
short-lived television series
Sechs unter einem Dach (1999). She gained
widespread recognition for her roles in
Plötzlich Prinzessin! (2001)
and its 2004 sequel as a young girl who discovers she is a member of
royalty, opposite Julie Andrews
and Heather Matarazzo.
She also had a notable role in
Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
opposite Charlie Hunnam and
Jamie Bell, and a starring role in
Ella - Verflixt & zauberhaft (2004). A former
top-ranking soprano in New York, Hathaway was reportedly a front-runner
for the role of "Christine" in the 2004
Das Phantom der Oper (2004).
However, due to scheduling conflicts with
Plötzlich Prinzessin 2 (2004),
she couldn't take the role, which was later given to newcomer
Emmy Rossum.
Hathaway soon started to move away from family-friendly films.
Following
Plötzlich Prinzessin 2 (2004),
she appeared topless in the films
Kick (2005) opposite
Josh Peck and
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
opposite Heath Ledger and
Jake Gyllenhaal. Her desire to break out
of her "Princess Diaries" image parallels that of her one-time co-star,
Julie Andrews, who went topless in
the film S.O.B. - Hollywoods letzter Heuler (1981) in order to break
away from the image she created from her 1960s musicals. In interviews,
Hathaway said that doing family-friendly films didn't mean she was
similar to their characters or mean she objected to appearing nude in
other films.
