Did Anne Hathaway Erase 'Hatha-hate' on Her 'Interstellar' Press Junket?

There are two Anne Hathaways, and the difference between them is the difference between "Hatha-love" and what the Internet coined "Hatha-hate," after her incredibly theatrical and divisive march to the Oscar for Les Miserables. Here's how to tell her two personas apart:

Anne: The beautiful, polished, Oscar-winning, Skidmore College-educated, Valentino muse who has starred in some of the biggest movies of the past decade; graced the cover of nearly every major magazine; and whose on-screen talent has stood out against acting legends as daunting as Meryl Streep. This is the Anne we want to see.

Annie: The eternal theater kid who walks down the hallways of her high school singing improvised, operatic duets with her fellow theater club friends; and goes to Denny's with her castmates following the afterparty for their high school production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, all while talking in cockney accents. Annie is the one who antagonized the Internet throughout her Les Miz tour, coming off more and more cringingly theatrical with every interview.

Which is why we so nervously anticipated her return to the talk show circuit to support her new movie, Interstellar. Did she learn any lessons from reviewing 2012's talk show tapes? Would she be able to keep Annie locked in the crawl space below the Pippin set? Or would her worst instincts win out, confirming her haters' most vicious caricatures?

We watched her talk show tour and assigned points to Anne and Annie based on who grabbed more of the spotlight: Who wins?

1. The Graham Norton Show (Oct. 31)

Anne started off relatively chill on the popular BBC talk show. Luckily, she was helped along by being in the orbit of her Interstellar co-star Matthew McConaughey — the epitome of chill. However, you couldn't help but get a knot in your stomach when Annie told this anecdote about mispronouncing the word "orgy" to her castmates in a high school play. NO, ANNE, STAY AWAY FROM THE TEEN THEATER STORIES!

Phew, the cringe factor was a little high on that one, but thankfully the show's other guest, Girls star and creator Lena Dunham, used an embarassing sexual story of her own to counteract the awkward, giving Anne a little "I got you, girl." Saved by the Lena!

Anne then explained how she predicted the McConaughssance after seeing Magic Mike with her girlfriends and exclaiming, "Matthew McConaughey is going to win an Oscar." It sems like this anecdote would be an example of Anne being human: She talks about all his thrusting and how great it was. That horndoggery is practically J.Law-esque! But then at :50 seconds in, she begins telling a story that involves imitating Christopher Nolan's British accent: Uh oh, British accents? That is dangerous Annie territory. And by the time that anecdote is over, and she is waving her hands in a "yeah, boyeeee" gesture, we are left shaking our heads, as if we have just watched our mother hum "All About the Bass."

And finally, she demonstrated how she would often simulate zero gravity in Interstellar just by standing on one foot. A cute anecdote overshadowed by the way she regally pronounces "float around" at :23. That is really Annie.

POINT: Annie

2. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Nov. 4)

Maybe it was being on her own turf in New York City, but the bolt on the trap door of Annie's crawl space was locked on hard when she hit Tonight, and Anne killed it. Anne recounts speaking at the American Cinemateque Awards, where McConaughey was being honored. She did a good job playing into her overly sincere caricature, discussing how she had written a sentimental speech and then found out she had to follow the laid back and personable Kate Hudson and Jennifer Garner. Then, to Anne's horror, she realized she actually had to speak after Sandra Bullock, arguably the most beloved person in showbiz. When it was finally her turn, the teleprompter broke, and Anne had to less-than-successively wing it. The story was charming, and self-deprecating, and showed Anne's struggle to be "cool" in the eyes of all of us, a pressure she is fully aware of and totally using for her benefit. GOOD, ANNE! Ham up your weaknesses!

Also, one EXTRA point goes to Anne for shading James Franco, with whom she infamously co-hosted the Oscars in 2011. Franco's "barely there" attitude caused Anne to overcompensate, and, not surprisingly, be annoying, making the entire ceremony excruciating to watch. A lot of people cite this as the beginning of the Hathaway backlash, so good for Anne for blaming someone else: James Franco and, implicitly, Annie.

POINT: Anne

1. The Ellen DeGeneres Show (Nov. 6)

Anne's redemption tour continued at The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where the lovable comedienne brought up Anne's recent Harper's Bazaar interview where she got real about her Internet haters. According to Anne, she was unaware of this mounting backlash until she did the worst thing you can ever do (aside from murdering someone): She Googled herself. Researching "Anne Hathaway pregnancy rumors" for a Funny or Die video following her Oscar win, the first search result that popped up was an article called "Why Does Everyone Hate Anne Hathaway?" Understandably, she curled into an existenstial fetal position. The audience let out some sympathetic "Awwws," but Anne didn't wallow too much. Instead of playing the victim card, she went on a remarkably authentic Eat, Pray, Love tangent about learning to appreciate herself and rise above the bullies. Corny? Sure! Taking a few cues from Annie's playbook? Definitely! But it came off smoothly. Maybe a little Annie is OK sometimes after all. A LITTLE.

POINT: Anne

FINAL SCORES: Anne 2, Annie 1

ANNE IS VICTORIOUS! Let the new era of Anne Hathaway love commence.

 

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