Anne Hathaway gets honest about finding her 'footing' in 40s

Anne Hathaway has made a highly relatable admission.

While speaking with PEOPLE Magazine for covering the outlet’s 2026 World's Most Beautiful issue, the actress said that her awkward phase lasted into her late 30s.

“I think I had the longest unbroken awkward phase in Hollywood,” she began, noting, “I think mine extended into my late 30s."

"I just didn’t feel like I could get comfortable anywhere," the The Princess Diaries hitmaker said of her "social vertigo. 

"I would want to walk into a room and just be chill and hang out, but I could not quite find my footing.”

As a child, she “found talking really difficult,” Hathaway admitted reasoning that she found acting easier than authentic expression because she could memorize all of her lines.

Suggesting that her 40s have brought a new kind of momentum, she confessed, “All of a sudden, the dress rehearsal was over. I was like, it was never a dress rehearsal."

"It was life. It’s been happening the whole time."

She concluded by remarking, “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.”