Anne Hathaway has boldly admitted that she’s scared she treated a former female director with “internalised misogyny”. The actor made the frank confession during an interview if there was any film she learned from the most, to which she answered 2011’s One Day because she fears that she didn’t trust the film’s director because she was a woman, reported Elle magazine.
“I really regret not trusting her more easily,” Hathaway said. “And I am to this day scared that the reason I didn’t trust her the way I trust some of the other directors I work with is because she’s a woman.”
Reflecting on her behaviour while shooting the romantic drama directed by Lone Scherfig, the 34-year-old star added, “I’m so scared that I treated her with internalised misogyny. I’m scared that I didn’t give her everything that she needed or… I was resisting her on some level. It’s something that I’ve thought a lot about in terms of when I get scripts to be directed by women.”
Hathaway even admitted that in the past, when she received a script or saw a film directed by a woman, she focused on what was wrong with it as opposed to when she saw a film helmed by a man when she would focus on what’s right with it. “I’m getting red talking about this, it feels like a confession, but I think it’s something we should talk about,” said The Dark Knight Rises actor.
“When I get a script, when I see a first film directed by a woman, I have in the past focused on what was wrong with it. And when I see a film directed by a man, I focus on what’s right with it. I can only acknowledge that I’ve done that and I don’t want to do that anymore. I, before I realised this, had actively tried to work with female directors. And I still had this mindset buried in there somewhere.”
Hathaway acknowledged that it’s much tougher for women professionally in Hollywood, adding, “That journey is way harder than it should be. It’s not equal. And I wonder if it’s about the thought process like the one I just talked about. About undervaluing what it takes to make your first film.”
The Interstellar actor revealed that she hadn’t apologised to Scherfig, but would call her after the interview for a chat. Meanwhile, a representative for Scherfig said, “Lone Scherfig is deep in pre-production of her next film and is consumed by it. She asked me to express her love and admiration for Anne and her work.”
