Anne Hathaway Gets Real About Her 20-Year Acting Career: ‘I Did Everything So Wrong for So Long’

Her life in the spotlight hasn’t always been easy but Anne Hathaway revealed in a new interview that she’s come a long way since her career began almost 20 years ago. “I did everything so wrong for so long,” she told People. When her career was first taking off, the 36-year-old revealed she suffered from “feelings of inadequacy, insecurity and nervousness and anxiety.”

Nowadays, Anne does her best to maintain a positive mindset. “I’m not big on looking back,” the brunette beauty, who has starred in hit movies including Serenity, Ocean’s 8 and Colossal over the past three years, said. “But I remember 10 years ago being so scared going into the whole awards season and doing what I thought I was supposed to do, so I barely ate anything at Christmas.”

The Devil Wears Prada actress even confessed to having poor coping mechanisms when her anxiety was at its ultimate high. “I thought movie stars had to have a certain body. I was just smoking, just smoking my nerves away and wasn’t nourishing myself,” Anne recalled.

Her life has certainly changed, though, since Anne first made a name of herself after starring in the beloved movie The Princess Diaries in 2001. “I just figured out how to say thank you to life by taking care of myself,” she gushed. “By not apologizing for taking up space, which is not something I knew how to do 10 years ago.”

And even though her “journey” has been filled with highs and lows, her experiences have shaped the person Anne is today. “I don’t look that different, but I just feel like the inside has transformed so much,” she said.

Despite finding career success and proving she’s an A-list celebrity, Anne — who shares her adorable 2-year-old son, Jonathan, with husband Adam Shulman — acknowledged that the criticism she’s faced will never really fade.

“Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. What I appreciate is when the negativity has some intelligence behind it,” she quipped. “What I don’t like is lazy negativity. If you’re going to take someone down, have a point of view! Be witty, maybe pun a little!” You go, Anne!