Anne Hathaway Is My New Hero

I love how direct and unafraid of conflict Anne Hathaway is in this resonant conversation with David Marchese. She’s confident, self-aware, and has strong boundaries. It’s empowering and intellectually stimulating to listen in on this deep and vulnerable sharing.

Here’s a snippet from The Interview (but listen to the full episode).

— Starts at 7:48

DM: But, I want to go back to the people pleaser line. I interpreted the inclusion of the line, "a people pleaser from New Jersey," as pretty intentional. Can you talk to me about why that line is in there?

AH: Well, she had to be from somewhere. And yeah, so I think it might have been me who suggested that line. Maybe. Possibly.

DM: Am I wrong in interpreting that line self-referentially? Like, you are a people pleaser from New Jersey, right?

AH: I think I'm a former people pleaser from New Jersey.

DM: Ahh...

AH: (chuckles) Uhmm...yeah, I think I... I absolutely was. I absolutely was. Again, to me, so much of the reason why I was drawn to acting was because it was an outlet for expression that I could not find on my own. And sort of in the space between feeling so connected when I was acting and so lost when I wasn’t, you sort of try to make your way. And one of the ways that you make your way is like, “Oh, if I do this that will make someone else happy and maybe that’s what I’m supposed to be doing. And it takes a really long time to go, “Well, it doesn't really matter if you don’t know who you are.” Unless, you just want an identity that's all about pleasing people, which I suppose is perfectly valid as well. But, I'm not that nice. (laughs)