Anne Hathaway is an outspoken advocate for women. She's talked about paid parental leave at the United Nations, and she's a goodwill ambassador for U.N. Women. She never let criticism of her earnestness get her down, and she put Matt Lauer in his place when he asked a sexist question about her wardrobe malfunction. All that to say: Hathaway is a total feminist, which makes this interview all the more shocking.
In an interview with ABC News' "Popcorn with Peter Travers" on Tuesday, Hathaway said she may have accidentally encouraged misogyny years ago. The Oscar winner told Travers that while filming One Day, which was released in 2011, she didn't trust director Lone Scherfig as easily as she trusted male directors.
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"I really regret not trusting her more easily," Hathaway told the Rolling Stone film critic of Scherfig. "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."
Hathaway even suggested she had dealt with "internalized misogyny" toward the director.
"I'm so scared that I treated her with internalized misogyny," Hathaway told Travers of Scherfig. "And I'm scared that I didn't give her everything that she needed or that I should have, because 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."
It's clear that the conversation wasn't comfortable for the Colossal star, as she avoided making eye contact with Travers while making the difficult statements. "I'm getting red talking about this, it feels like a confession, but I think it's something we should talk about," she said.
"When I get a script, when I see a film, 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, first-time directed by a man, I focus on what’s right with it," Hathaway added. The actress said that she wants to change her way of thinking, and hopes that speaking out might change how others view female-directed films, too.
The actress also said that she'd call Scherfig to apologize. "I hold her in such a dear place in my heart," Hathaway said of the director. Check out the emotional interview below.
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