AS PART of her promotion for new British romantic drama One Day, Anne Hathaway recently sat down with a small group of journalists and discussed her career and its upward trajectory as well as the challenges it brings.

She also reflected on the challenge of playing popular characters such as Emma Morley and Selina Kyle/Catwoman in Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming The Dark Knight Rises.

Q. In old interviews you’ve mentioned not feeling good about yourself when you were younger and having confidence. Does acclaim and Oscar nominations build confidence as you get older?
Anne Hathaway: [Laughs] No! No, it doesn’t because this is not a job that you get comfortable in. That’s not why you do it. It’s not a profession that guarantees any kind of steadiness. And so there’s always that awareness that you could very well be on the street in a very short amount of time at the back of the line. And if you don’t think that then have fun deluding yourself, but that’s the reality.

Q. So, is it very much a constant surprise, with the nominations and roles and offers such as Batman?
Anne Hathaway: Batman wasn’t offered! I had to work for that one! I auditioned for that one! But it’s so absurdly wonderful and yes I am very surprised by it and grateful for it.

Q. So, what did you have to do to get Batman?
Anne Hathaway: Well, I met with Chris. He met with a lot of girls and I came up in the list that he’d like to see read the part. So, I then went in and had a screen test with Christian [Bale] and then I had to wait for Chris to make up his mind… pins and needles!

Q. Have you had a lot of physical training?
Anne Hathaway: Yes.

Q. So, you’re super fit…
Anne Hathaway: I don’t want to talk about fitness. It’s slightly embarrassing because it’s very personal and we’re here to talk about acting, not exercise!

Q. How do you go about making your choice of blockbuster movies such as The Dark Knight Rises with smaller films like One Day? How do you view your career trajectory from The Princess Diaries through to this point?
Anne Hathaway: It’s all just been a lot of happenstance. I try to figure out what the best part out there is, what the best project out there is, who the best director is that’s doing whatever those things are… and if a great combo comes up, like Lone Scherfig and Emma Morley in One Day or Christopher Nolan and Selena Kyle in Batman, obviously I’m going to do anything that I can to get that and be in that experience. So, I don’t think about it in terms of big job, little job, it’s really more quality based.

Q. Do you find it hard to go from a self depreciating character such as Emma Morley to a strong character like Selena in Batman?
Anne Hathaway: Well, I’ve had a lot of time between the two, so I pretty much lost Emma by the time I went into Batman. But they’re so different, actually, that it would be harder to play similar characters because they might get mooshed up with one another. But they’re two very different women, so the edges are a lot sharper and there are differences.

Q. Is it easier to play a character who’s been played memorably before, or harder?
Anne Hathaway: It’s all hard, man! [Laughs] I mean, Emma Morley has hundreds of thousands if not millions of fans, as does Catwoman. It’s pretty high stakes when you look at either character, for sure – and good because I like a challenge.

Q. Does it give you a buzz?
Anne Hathaway: It makes you work harder. I don’t take anything for granted. I never rest on my laurels, I never assume anything’s going to work out. It’s just got to work, got to think, got to turn over every stone and there’s a certain satisfaction at the end of the day in knowing that you’ve done your damndest.

Q. Have you always been like that?
Anne Hathaway: Not with all things but with acting I get confidence from how much work I’ve put in. If I just were to go in and wing something I don’t think I would feel as confident and free as I do when I know that I’ve done everything within my power. Because there comes a moment before you start a film, before you start a scene, before you have a moment, where you have to let go and I will enjoy the letting go if I know I have worked hard up until that point. Sometimes you step into a project last minute and you haven’t had the chance to do all the legwork and you have to trust your instincts. And that’s its own sweet feeling as well. I haven’t had that many of those but that has a beauty to it as well. But when things are under your control…

Read more from Anne Hathaway on One Day

Read our review of One Day

• Delicious
• Digg
• Reddit
• Facebook
• Stumbleupon