Anne Hathaway has been busy lately, between giving a talk at the UN about paid parental leave, being a mom, and now gracing the cover of “Elle.” In the accompanying piece, she opens up about how her family has brought a new dimension to her life.
Of her four-year marriage to her Jewish husband, Adam Schulman, she spoke about how it has changed her–and why it’s OK to admit she needs someone else:
“He changed my ability to be in the world comfortably. I think the accepted narrative now is that we, as women, don’t need anybody. But I need my husband. His unique and specific love has changed me.”
Hathaway also says that motherhood has made her become more of an activist, especially in regards to paid parental leave–which is why she’s going to be a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for the next four years:
“I can’t believe we don’t already have it. When [my son] Johnny was a week old and I was holding him and I was in the ninth level of ecstasy, I just all of a sudden thought, ‘Mommy guilt is invented nonsense.’ We’re encouraged to judge each other, but we should be turning our focus to the people and institutions who should be supporting us and currently aren’t.”
Gender imbalance also affects her career, Hathaway noted, describing Hollywood which she says is “not a place of equality:”
“I don’t say that with anger or judgment; it’s a statistical fact. And even though I’ve been in some female-centric films, I’ve never been in a film like [Ocean’s Eight]. It just kind of makes you aware of the ways you sort of unconsciously change yourself to fit certain scenarios.
It’s not better or worse, or right or wrong. But there are certain things you understand about one another because of experiences you have in common … it’s probably easy for men to take that for granted. Just being on a set where I’m the one who possesses that ease is really something. It’s a nice alternative narrative.”
Her latest film, “Ocean’s Eight,” is set to premiere on June 8, 2018–it has an all-female cast. Can’t wait to see this one.
