Does being settled make you look back on past relationships and experiences?
I do like to reflect because it proves to you how far you have come. I guess every relationship is different. Sometimes you fall in love very hard and sometimes it takes time to develop. I remember many years ago when I was at a low point in my life and a stranger entered my life and we had this fairly intense time together even though it didn’t last very long. Unfortunately we wound up going our separate ways and we no longer have any contact but he had this incredibly positive impact on my life and it was one of those relationships that changes you for the better.
In general, though, a relationship becomes real once the initial glow wears off and you each start to reveal yourself and become much more open. That’s when you’re going to find out if it’s going to last. Ultimately, I am very lucky with who I fell in love with… a keeper, so I kept him. He was smart enough to know I still had a lot of demons to battle and gave me my own time and space.
What’s next? A return to music?
Music is a big part of my life and always has been. As a young girl I sang in choirs and trained as a soprano. I also sang in an acapella group in college. My mother also toured the country with Les Mis and music and musical theatre was a huge part of my upbringing. I would often listen to Evita in my room and imagine myself as Eva Peron singing on Broadway. But I always associate music with performing and acting and I realised a lifelong dream when I played Fantine (in Les Misérables, for which she won an Oscar).
What about comedy?
Sure, I do love and will always love doing comedy. I’m a big fan of stories that explore relationships and try to understand what brings people together as lovers or friends. Humour is a great way of presenting those… of finding a way in.
Will you work with your husband Adam Shulman again?
It was a great thing to do. Adam is so organized and sure about what he’s doing that we never had any problems working on this together, so I don’t see why not. I actually respect my husband even more after having made that film with him and he’s a very good producer.
I didn’t realize how hard it is to produce a film. There are so many details and so many issues to deal with on a constant basis and I have a lot more respect for the producers who work very hard to finance and get movies made.
Is acting still as much fun now as in your teens when you were starting out?
I don’t think it will ever not be fun – it’s a constant journey, as much about yourself as it is the character you embody. I love that thrill, always have and I’m sure always will. For as long as people want to watch me then I will carry on performing, because it is such a pleasure and the most exhilarating thing I think I could possibly do.
What I will say is variety is important to me in how I move from one role to another, but to have the role in the first place is the ultimate thing for me, and despite the things I have been through I do always consider myself very fortunate.
www.instagram.com/annehathaway/
