Holy terror: Anne Hathaway on The Devil Wears Prada

That would make me sound like an awful human being: she was three years old! My only other job besides acting has been babysitting, and I tried everything - singing songs, sprinkling fairy dust on her, everything - but this little girl did not like my bag of tricks. I was 15 and her parents came home and asked, 'Do you want to baby-sit for her again?' And I was like, 'No!'

Did she? Okay, that's my gold star of the day, thank you very much.

He's hysterical. He's so witty, you would think he was a Brit. There is a different level of linguistic control and execution across the pond. He's just a genius. One day he kept elbowing me in the breast - he wasn't doing it to be a dirty old man but every single take in one scene, he would just smack me in my boob.

If you're a girl, you know that hurts so after about the fourth time I finally turned to him, and I was like, 'Stanley, can you please stay away from my tits?' And he got really flustered and went, 'Well what do you expect? You're flinging those melons around like it's harvest season!'

I just thought that was the most brilliant thing. It became an oft-quoted line on set.

I was frightened at how little I knew myself, and how I didn't know my priorities. I thought that might lead me to a place where I could make really bad decisions so I took some time off, and got to really know myself.

I have lived in L.A. when I'm working, but when I'm not working, my time is really precious to me and I don't want to be in a place where I'm not happy. I don't get LA. I don't know what to do with myself out there. I can't be in the sun. I've got really pale skin. I'm not a throw-lemon-juice-in-my-hair, grab-the-surfboard kind of girl. I like New York for what it offers. It lets me be my brainy, geeky, yet somewhat-fashionable self. It lets me be me.

When Angie came along to give me that opportunity, it was something I wanted to do for a long time. I've been working with a lot of domestic charities but that was my first international thing and I definitely caught the bug. She gave me such an extraordinary gift by letting me be part of that project. She gave me a new perspective from which to view life.

I used to hate my thighs. Now I'm grateful they weren't blown off by a landmine. It's just an amazing perspective to have on life, and to have it so young. I feel like the rest of my life is such a gift and filled with so much potential and possibility as opposed to anxiety - which is what I used to feel.

Sleeping!