Anne Hathaway Reacts to Being Told She Has ‘No Sex Appeal’

Anne Hathaway got her start in Hollywood as a teen actress, making her big screen debut in Disney's The Princess Diaries before career-turning roles in Brokeback Mountain and The Devil Wears Prada. But despite a successful, two-and-a-half decades in Hollywood, the 41-year-old has been stigmatized for what Buzzfeed once referred to in 2015 as the "Anne Hathaway Syndrome." As in, "when you do everything right and society hates you for it."

In a new Vanity Fair profile, Hathaway opened up about how she's perceived by both Hollywood and audiences, and even admitted that she was told she had "no sex appeal" when she first started in the industry.

"I was like, 'I’m a Scorpio. I know what I’m like on a Saturday night,'" Hathaway quipped to the publication, admitting that, at the time, the cultural definition of "sexy" is far more constrained than it is now. "The male gaze was very dominant and very pervasive and very juvenile," she added.

Though, Hathaway does admit that she's an "intense" person. Next, she appears in the romantic comedy The Idea of You, about a love affair between a 40-year-old, divorced single mother and "the lead singer of the hottest boy band on the planet." Michael Showalter, who directed the film, likewise agreed with that characterization.

"She’s fiery," Showalter said. "She has deeply held feelings about things that can feel intractable. I’m a Gemini. Things change constantly for me. Once we put an astrological sign to it, that opened up the floodgates for us to communicate in a different way. I’m not joking. And I’m not an astrology guy, but even I was like, ‘Oh, my God. Of course. I understand you now. It’s just that you’re a Scorpio.'"

At any rate, with Hollywood's changing perception and landing roles that were once outside her wheelhouse, perhaps Hathaway will finally get her due as a passionate, sexy Scorpio as she heads into the next phase of her career.