How Anne Hathaway And Christopher Nolan Get Along In Real Life

Given that she's appeared in three of his movies, it's safe to say that Oscar-winning actor Anne Hathaway has officially become at least a semi-frequent collaborator of similarly highly-acclaimed director Christopher Nolan. The two first worked together on his 2012 Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises," in which Hathaway played a version of Catwoman who took some obvious visual cues from '60s icon Julie Newmar's take on the character. Just two years later, Hathaway had a starring role in Nolan's 2014 sci-fi epic "Interstellar." Then, she portrayed Penelope in the director's 2026 adaptation of "The Odyssey." Given that 12-year gap between collaborations, some may find themselves wondering just how well the two actually get along in real life. And yet, it seems to have purely been a matter of their schedules not aligning during that sizeable stretch of time. 

As the "Devil Wears Prada" star tells it, when the duo finally did reunite, it was like no time had passed at all. As Hathaway told People in July 2026, "One of my things that I was so happy to discover is that Chris is a remarkably consistent human being." She went on to praise the filmmaker for how he carries himself on set, sweetly telling him directly, "You've made so many incredible movies all in different genres, but your approach to it, your respect to the crew, how arduously you prepare and think about everything, that's all there." Additionally, while Hathaway has certainly had a stunning transformation, she made it a point to note that when she initially worked with Nolan in the 2010s, her career was still relatively young. "I think I was different," the actor said, adding, "We made [those movies] pretty quickly and then for 12 years, you were in 'Dunkirk.'"

After Anne Hathaway won the Academy Award for best supporting actress, in 2013, for her performance in "Les Misérables," the internet turned on her. The apparent insincerity of her public persona — particularly, Hathaway's demeanor when accepting the award itself — became the subject of such intense online mockery that the viral term "Hathahate" was coined. And this was more than mere harmless trolling. According to the proud theater kid, the widespread vitriol soured her reputation to the point that it legitimately started to cost her career opportunities. "[A] lot of people wouldn't give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online," Hathaway confessed during a March 2024 interview with Vanity Fair. 

So, whether or not he realized it at the time, her director on "Interstellar" was taking a significant stand when he decided to reunite with Hathaway on the movie. "I had an angel in Christopher Nolan, who did not care about that and gave me one of the most beautiful roles I've had in one of the best films that I've been a part of," she enthused. "I don't know if he knew that he was backing me at the time, but it had that effect," the "Princess Diaries" star continued, adding that Nolan's support markedly mitigated the damage. Of course, Hathaway herself has also come a long way in terms of rising above the online harassment that defined her career for so many years. "Hate seems to me to be the opposite of life; in soil that harsh, nothing can grow properly, if at all," the Oscar winner noted during a speech at an Elle event in October 2022.