Anne Hathaway interview

Raised in New Jersey, vegetarian Anne is a devout Christian who once considered dedicating her life to the Church. Preferring fundraising trips to red carpet appearances, Anne is funny, light-hearted and wise beyond her years. Here she talks about life in New York, being friends with Angelina Jolie and her latest flick

The Devil Wears Prada, starring Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci, is based on the best-selling novel about an assistant working for a demanding editor, said to be modelled on Vogue editor Anna Wintour. The role of the assistant Andy, the young naif who comes to New York to work in fashion, is perfectly suited to Anne's wide-eyed innocent looks.

But in reality she is no gullible fool, having earned her acting stripes as Jake Gyllenhaal's long-suffering wife Lureen in gay cowboy epic Brokeback Mountain - despite the fact it was only the ninth film she had made.

What was it like working on Brokeback Mountain?

I'm more proud of the film than anything I have ever created. By the end of Princess Diaries 2, I was ready to do something completely different. I got into this not to typecast myself. I got into it to be an actress, to scare the sh*t out of myself, and force myself into a place outside of my comfort zone.

Is the competition in the acting world really cut-throat?

I love my job, but if it means hurting someone, I won't do it. I mean, that being said, I will go after a part but I do have limits. I won't do anything to get it, like I've never done a drive-by shooting or anything like that. But I've thought about it! I stop short of cut-throat. It's competitive, and it's hard, but it's not worth selling out your soul for.

Is it true you were going to become a nun, but decided not to because of gay issues?

It's still this feeling I have every once in a while of wanting to go into the service. Obviously, I don't think I'm a good enough person - I like hedonism a little bit too much! But I love the idea of being completely devoted to service, zero vanity. I think you get a lot of spiritual freedom.

I do disagree with a couple of the stances of the Catholic Church. The most important one to me is because my older brother is gay. It's important for me to be able to love him completely and freely and it's important for me to spread beliefs in the world that are not going to limit people in their love. I'm a nondenominational Christian, and it's important to know yourself in life. For me, my family is a huge priority and that choice was really clear, I didn't need to struggle with that.

Did you learn any lessons from The Devil Wears Prada about the fashion world?

I learned that fashion magazines don't have numbered pages, so they make you read all the advertisements first. And now I'm a bit more specific about looks that I want to create for myself.