Anne Hathaway Is PEOPLE's World’s Most Beautiful Cover Star — “That's All”!

Charlotte TriggsMon, April 20, 2026 at 11:48 AM UTC

0

Anne Hathaway Is PEOPLE's World’s Most Beautiful Cover Star — “That's All”!

With her own playlist — filled with Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish and Madonna — blasting through the speakers, and the feathers on her Tamara Ralph dress blowing from the wind machine, Anne Hathaway, 43, is clearly having a ball at her PEOPLE cover shoot. But she wasn’t always this, well, relaxed.

“When I started out, I thought I’d be a better artist if I was really hard on myself,” she says. “And then turning 40, I just kind of found a different gear, and I was no longer interested in living an awkward life. I was just interested in getting to the fun part.”

That part is now.

David Koma top. Bulgari jewelry.Credit: Jonny Marlow

From her breakthrough role in 2001’s The Princess Diaries (directed by star-maker Garry Marshall) and art-house films like Brokeback Mountain and Becoming Jane to blockbusters including Alice in Wonderland and Les Misérables, for which she won an Oscar, Hathaway has become one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood.

This year alone she has five films due out, including the highly anticipated sequel The Devil Wears Prada 2, which hits theaters May 1.

Returning to her iconic role of Andy Sachs 20 years later with her original costars Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci “was just beautiful. It was joyful,” she says. “Sometimes you’re like, ‘I wish I could go back to that moment knowing what I know now.’ So for me this was the chance to actually be with the same people again, step back into that world, but with a little bit more perspective.”

The New Jersey-raised star gives most of the credit to her “dream partner” husband of 13 years, jewelry designer and film producer Adam Shulman, 45, and their two sons, Jonathan, 10, and Jack, 6, for keeping her grounded but admits there’s still a “perpetual hustle” despite all her success.

“You’re always out on a ledge. You fall off, and you just kind of climb back up,” she says. “But I love it. I love the risk. I think the most I can hope for is, if I’m lucky enough to continue working, to eventually look back and be like, ‘Oh, I did it.’ ” And then some.

Tamara Ralph dress. Willy Chavarria jacket. Christian Louboutin heels. Bulgari jewelry.Credit: Jonny Marlow

How do you define beauty?

A filmmaker once told me this: Beauty can contain within it ugliness as long as it contains truth. So for me beauty always falls along those lines.

Stella McCartney denim & leather set. Bulgari jewelry.Credit: Jonny Marlow

What qualities in female friendships do you find beautiful?

Humor. I love to laugh, and I love people who look for the joke in a situation. You want people that you can celebrate the ups with, and you want people that you can laugh through the downs with. I also look for people who are discreet. I’m a vault. You know what else I appreciate about a friend? Someone who will tell you when you have a poppy seed in your teeth.

When did you first realize you wanted to act?

When I was 3. My mom’s an actress, and she performed at the Allenberry Playhouse in a production of Evita. She was Eva Perón, and my dad tells me that when it was done, he said, “So what do you think?” And apparently my response was, “There were children on that stage. I should be one.” Which I have to say, I love the stones on little me. They held me back for about 10 years. Then I got an agent myself.

Did you ever have an awkward phase?

For decades — decades. I think I had the longest unbroken awkward phase in Hollywood. Actually, I think mine extended until my late 30s.

Stella McCartney denim & leather set. Bulgari jewelry.Credit: Jonny Marlow

That’s hard to believe.

Pretty sure I knew because I was inside of it. I mean, you have your normal awkward phase when you’re a teenager. I just didn’t feel like I could get comfortable anywhere, you know? I couldn’t quite find my footing.

When I was a kid, I found talking really difficult. So I had a bit of stress and anxiety around just, like, communicating.

Any beauty disasters?

Multiple. I didn’t understand that there’s a whole language when it comes to beauty. For about 10 years I was asking for my hair to be done a certain way, and it never went the way I wanted. And then finally I showed someone a picture.

I had been asking for texture, and I meant that I wanted, like, loose soft waves, and it took me a very long time to figure that out. Now I always show up with reference images.

You’re stepping back into Andy Sachs’s Chanel boots for The Devil Wears Prada 2. What do you remember most about the original film?

I loved making the first. I know I was stressed and anxious and all those things, but it’s one of the most hilarious experiences ever because of the people I was with.

Emily Blunt is such a dream of a human being. Stanley is so funny and quick, and Meryl, I don’t talk about how much I revere her to her, but I do. She’s someone I admire. Someone who defines how it’s done. Somebody who is just living greatness and never rests on that laurel but is always pushing herself to expand as an artist. She’s unbelievable.

"I'M AT A STAGE IN MY LIFE WHERE I DON'T WANT TO FOCUS ON THE STRESS"

Rabanne top. KHAITE pants. Christian Louboutin heels. Bulgari jewelry.Credit: Jonny Marlow

Can we expect your clothes to be as high-end?

Back in 2006 [costume designer] Patricia Field iconically said, “It’s not a documentary. Don’t ask how we got all these clothes. Don’t ask about the budget. Don’t think that hard. Just have a good time.” People just accepted that Andy Sachs worked at a fashion magazine and was allowed to go into the closet and take so much Chanel. [Laughs]

Tamara Ralph dress. Willy Chavarria jacket. Bulgari jewelry.Credit: Jonny Marlow

Nowadays, audiences are a little bit more savvy. So the story that we came up with was, Andy learned a thing or two while she was at Runway. And as she has been out in the world exploring her career as a journalist, she visited a lot of really fun out-of-the-way consignment shops. So she’s been shopping consignment luxury for 20 years and actually has a very cool wardrobe.

This is an incredibly busy year for you. What are your favorite things to do when you get any downtime?

I still get the paper delivered every day, and I love sitting down with it. And I’d cuddle with our puppy — we just got a puppy. And I’d probably take time to call the people I love because I’m always zipping from one thing to another. I’d love to have breakfast with a friend. I’d love to go for a walk, maybe do a little window-shopping, maybe go to a museum. I’m very meandering on my days off.

How does your husband support you?

I’m having my own little party right now, imagining how hard my husband would laugh at that question. He supports me completely. This year in particular was unusual. He and I both know that it’s probably never going to happen like this again. And the way he stepped up, I mean, in every possible way, he’s the most extraordinary person I’ve ever met.

I’m so lucky that he’s my partner that I spend my life with. If I didn’t know that before this past year, I think I really know it now because with absolutely everything he’s just, he’s on it. He holds it down. I hope that doesn’t sound like I’m bragging, but he’s a dream partner to me.

Advertisement

It’s one thing to have dreams. It’s another thing to have somebody who helps you achieve them. I absolutely would not be able to have achieved what I’ve done without my husband.

Tamara Ralph dress. Bulgari jewelry.Credit: Jonny Marlow

What’s one of the best parts about being a boy mom?

I’m a tomboy! I love that being a boy mom has really informed my fashion. I have to always be able to go from a serious business meeting to, like, a basketball court. You have to be able to play pickup basketball at any point, in any outfit. So [I tell myself]: When you get dressed in the morning, dress wisely because you 100 percent are going to have a projectile thrown at you probably by the end of breakfast.

What beauty secrets have you learned over the years?

I like all the massages. I love a Georgia Louise [sculpting] facial.

And just understand your lighting, like that’s the No. 1 thing because all of those things will not make a difference if you do not know how to find your light. Bad lighting is so mean and cruel, and as you age, you need lighting that’s a little bit more intelligent. So be aware of lighting.

"GENUINELY AGING DOESN’T BOTHER ME. BAD LIGHTING DOES"

And somebody told me that, at a certain point, especially if you’re a naturally expressive person, which I am, you have to be aware that what feels normal to you is going to look exaggerated on a red carpet. And if people are taking photos, you might not be happy with the photos. So just be aware of your calm. Be aware of your stillness.

Stella McCartney blazer and pants. Schiaparelli belt & heels. Bulgari jewelry.Credit: Jonny Marlow

Any beauty product must-haves?

Shiseido’s Vital Perfection really is a brilliant skin cream. [Hathaway is a Shiseido spokesperson.] I do genuinely recommend it. I think a red-light mask is a game changer. I love C & The Moon body scrub. And I’m a big fan of Baume De Rose By Terry.

What’s your off-duty uniform?

I have this pair of Attico jeans that I really love. I usually wear them with an Anine Bing tank top and cowboy boots. And when I can get away without wearing a sweater, I’ll usually wear a leather jacket with that. Put on some sunglasses, and head out the door.

Do you have a go-to workout?

I love working out with [personal trainer] Monique Eastwood. She’s a genius. She’s a former ballerina, so she’s put together ballet, HIIT, Pilates, yoga. And I’m really lucky I get to have private sessions with her. We’ve been working together for over four years, and she’s just kind of changed everything and made it better.

When you were promoting The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, there was a lot of attention on your body and the catsuit. Did that bother you at all?

Only when people associate it with, “How much weight did you have to lose to get into the catsuit?” I felt protective about it because [director Christopher Nolan] specifically sat me down and said, “I don’t care about you losing weight, but I want you to be able to do all your own stunts.”

So I didn’t like that the way into the question was, “How much weight did you have to lose?” And not, “How strong did you have to get in order to play that part?”

Or how you learned how to flip backward out of the window ...

A lot of practice on a very high platform.

Vintage Dolce and Gabbana dress. Gianvito Rossi heels. Bulgari jewelry.Credit: Jonny Marlow

Well, your body has done some incredible things, including two pregnancies.

I just feel very lucky. I know that not everybody who wants to be a parent gets to be. I’m just blown away by how fortunate I am. It went really well for me twice, and that’s really lucky.

As a fellow 43-year-old, I’d love to know: What’s your thought process on aging now?

You have to be more serious about how you take care of yourself. I just think that when you’re in your 40s, you’ve had the opportunity to see how certain decisions bore fruit over time. And so you can assess if you want to continue making those decisions or if you want to make new ones.

One of the things that I love about being in my 40s is I don’t get so swept up in things anymore. I used to really not understand that phrase “Take it with a grain of salt.” There’s no salt. Every high was so high, every low was so low. And now I really value the chill. It’s hard won, and I really value it.

I’ve never been this age. So let’s just like, you know, figure it out. You still never know what’s coming around the corner.

Credit: Jonny MarlowCredits

Photographer Jonny Marlow

Cinematographer Josh Herzog

Film cinematographer Jenna Brillhart

Set design 11th Street Workshop

Stylist Erin Walsh / A-Frame Agency

Hair Orlando Pita / Orlo Salon / Home Agency

Makeup Fulvia Farolfi / MA+ GROUP

Manicure Deborah Lippmann / Using Deborah Lippmann / Home Agency

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”