Anne Hathaway's appeal just keeps on growing

Dec 31 2010 By Susan Griffin

If you were in any doubt as to the identity of the current golden girl of Hollywood, then the news that Anne Hathaway, already Golden Globe-nominated for her latest film, is to co-host the 2011 Oscars in February should serve as a neon sign.

At 28, she’s the youngest person ever to be bestowed with the honour, but neither the prospect of being watched by more than a billion people nor the fact she could commit career suicide if she’s critically panned appears to daunt the actress.

Hathaway’s simply pleased she has co-presenter and fellow Golden Globe nominee James Franco, 32, star of 127 Hours, along for the ride.

“I think that’s going to make it more fun than terrifying,” says Hathaway with a wide smile.

This positive approach to life may explain how she’s managed to achieve more before the age of 30 than many of us will in an entire lifetime.

She first came to prominence as a ditzy Disney princess in The Princess Diaries in 2001 but has gone on to prove her mettle and versatility in critically-acclaimed films such as Brokeback Mountain, Becoming Jane and Rachel Getting Married, which also earned her a Golden Globe nomination in 2009 and – perhaps a sign of things to come – a Best Actress Oscar nomination too.

It’s a quantum leap that countless others have failed to make but Hathaway describes it as “a natural extension”.

“I think my relationship with directors, and my ability to trust them, is in no small part responsible for the success that I’ve had and that began with the role of a Disney princess with the wonderful Garry Marshall,” she says.

This is the same director who launched Julia Roberts’s career by casting her in Pretty Woman but while Marshall has been influential, Hathaway is being a little too modest about her considerable talents.

Aside from the acting, she’s a trained soprano who’s performed at Carnegie Hall, a former English student of one of New York’s most prestigious colleges (though she enjoys delving into Newtonian physics in her spare time) and she’s the go-to girl for hosting events as diverse as US comedy showcase Saturday Night Live and the Nobel Peace Prize Concert.