The 70th annual Golden Globe Awards took place on Jan. 13, 2013, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. Here is what this Golden Globe winner said backstage in the Golden Globe Awards press room.
ANNE HATHAWAY
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television
What does winning this Golden Globe Award mean to you?
It’s so encouraging because there are so many people out there who feel and know in their hearts that they’re actors, that they’re storytellers, that they’re artists. And it doesn’t work out for so many of them.
So it just makes me feel really lucky because I’d be doing this whether or not anybody was watching. That I get access to these kinds of roles and these kinds of experiences, and get to work with filmmakers at the level that I’ve been lucky enough able to work at, it makes me wonder who I sent a check to.
What made you want to get this role in “Les Misérables”?
I’ve loved the show since I was 8. I saw my mom perform this role when I was 8 years old. It seemed like an amazing challenge to tell a story and represent the destruction and redemption of a soul in about 15 minutes of screen time.
And also, the show is so important to so many people, myself included, that I just wanted to be a part of it. I honesty would’ve played a musket, so I’m thrilled I got to sing a really good song.
Did you ever feel pigeonholed by “Princess Diaries” movies?
I never did, but I was aware that I was sort of walking a very narrow path and that I could fall off of it very easily. I knew who I wanted to be, and I knew the sorts of roles I wanted to play, but I also knew that other people may not see me in that way. I knew it was up to me to convince them. And I really did feel so encouraged by Sally [Field] that if you go out there and if you do the work, people will listen.
Was it a collaborative decision to sing “I Dream a Dream” the way you did in “Les Misérables”?
That was a decision that I came up with. The first person that I told was my husband. He wasn’t my husband then though. I had gotten to the point where I had worked on the song so hard, I felt confident that I could sing it well enough to be in the film.
And as soon as I got to that point that it was the wrong way to do it for film — what is so thrilling about it on stage was going to be distracting on film. And that I was in a unique position to sing from an emotional place, and if I abandoned my vocal vanity, the song would, in my mind, be more moving. And I talked to Tom [Hooper, the director of “Les Misérables”] about it, and I performed the song the way I thought it ought to be performed, and I received support from him.
And [“Les Misérables” lyricist] Alain Boublil and [“Les Misérables” composer] Claude-Michel Schönberg and [“Les Misérables” producer] Cameron Mackintosh wanted to hear it too. So I did it for them. And everybody was behind me. I’m really grateful for it. I’m sure it’s a really difficult thing to take a song that you’ve written and listened to for 30 years and then hear it in a completely new way. So I’m grateful to them for their generosity.
What can you say about the controversy over “Les Misérables”? Some critics said that some of the singing in the movie wasn’t very good.
I don’t know if there was controversy. I know that I worked with one of the greatest casts an actor could ever hope to work with. And I watched people show up for work on the first day in the same place.
And I saw them do whatever it took to climb a mountain. And every single person, whatever anyone thinks of their performance, gave every last bit of themselves to what they had to do and did the very best they [could]. And I am honored to be in this cast with these people who gave performances that I love.
How do you see yourself at the Oscars this year?
[She says jokingly] I see sort of a taupe. [She says seriously] No, lucky to be there. I feel about that the way I feel about tonight. I’ve been invited to the party before, and I went home without any hardware, but in a way, although it would be wonderful to win something, and it is, it’s not the most important thing.
It’s being invited into the room. It’s the company that you get to keep. And I’m so honored to just get to go and be a part of it. So that’s where I’m at with it.
For more info: Golden Globe Awards website
RELATED LINKS ON EXAMINER.COM:
Comments