Hathaway first exploded onto the Hollywood radar at the ripe old age of 18 (perhaps just old enough to avoid the curse of the child star) in The Princess Diaries. The film was a huge commercial success and, combined with Hathaway's widely-appraised performance, spawned a sequel 3 years later.
Hathaway continued appearing in family-friendly films well into her twenty's with the likes of Ella Enchanted & Hoodwinked. However in 2005, she made a drastic career shift, starring in Havoc, a drama directed by Barbara Kopple. Havoc was Hathaway's first 'grown-up' film, and required her to pull out the big guns (both from her repertoire of acting skills and...well...her bra).
Hathaway then starred in confused-cowboy epic Brokeback Mountain, before taking on her most famous role opposite Meryl Streep. If The Princess Diaries put Anne Hathaway on the map, then The Devil Wears Prada catapulted her to the A-list. In a career that has only been going 13 years, this already feels like the film for which she will be remembered; that's how good she is in it.
Still relatively early in her career, Hathaway made a bold move by walking away from her starring role in Judd Apatow's Knocked Up, a part that later went to Katherine Heigl. Reportedly, Hathaway wasn't comfortable with real footage of childbirth being used in the film, deeming it 'unnecessary'. Having seen the footage, I'm inclined to agree with Miss Hathaway. Grim.
Seemingly unable to resist the odd comedy, Hathaway's next project was Get Smart, opposite Steve Carell. She then changed career lanes again by making the dramas Passengers and Rachel Getting Married, the latter of which garnered her first Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. Still aged just 26.
After a minor blip caused by the quite dreadful Bride Wars, Hathaway's career continued to grow with a run of box office successes, including Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Valentine's Day, and animated flick Rio.
Anne Hathaway's golden box office touch culminated this year in all-conquering Batman finale: The Dark Knight Rises. Along with Joseph Gordon Levitt, Hathaway is the standout star of the film, which is impressive given the star-studded cast. Already being tipped as the best Catwoman ever, Hathaway injected a lot of heart into the role, as well as the sex appeal that the trilogy had previously lacked (sorry Maggie Gyllenhaal, but don't kid yourself).
So then, in what is a surprisingly short amount of time, Anne Hathaway has risen to the top tiers of Hollywood. This is down to her obviously likability, as well as her versatility. Yo-yoing between light-hearted comedy and serious drama, Anne Hathaway shines in pretty much any film she's in. Her acting ability and raw star-power grow with every film, and are now nearly as big as her crazy-Japanese-manga eyes.
