Anne Hathaway

Hathaway's career didn't ease in gradually — it arrived. The Princess Diaries (2001) was her feature debut, and it hit wide. Playing an awkward teenager who discovers she's royalty sounds like a thin premise, but she made it work in a way that built genuine audience loyalty, the kind that follows an actor for years (TMDB). Television had come first — Get Real in 1999 — but film was clearly where she was headed (TMDB). The mid-2000s were where things got interesting. She took on Havoc and Brokeback Mountain in 2005, both dramatic departures from the Disney brand, and critics noticed (TMDB). The Devil Wears Prada (2006) then proved she could hold her own opposite Meryl Streep — no small thing — while Rachel Getting Married (2008) earned her that first Academy Award nomination for a performance that didn't ask the audience to like her character, which is always a gamble worth watching (TMDB). Hard to say if that nomination changed how Hollywood saw her, but the roles that followed suggest it did. From 2010 onward, she moved between genres with a kind of ease that most actors can't manage without losing their identity. Valentine's Day (2010), Love and Other Drugs (2010), Alice in Wonderland (2010) — a busy year by any measure. Then came the one-two of The Dark Knight Rises and Les Misérables, both in 2012, the latter earning her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Fantine, a role that required her to perform 'I Dreamed a Dream' in a single unbroken take on camera (TMDB). Variety and other outlets covered the technical demands of that scene extensively at the time. Interstellar (2014), The Intern (2015), and Ocean's 8 (2018) kept her in the conversation through the decade's second half, and The Idea of You (2024) introduced her to a new wave of viewers who may not have grown up with The Princess Diaries. The Odyssey is slated for 2026 (TMDB). Still going.