Who

Hathaway made her bones as the star of syrupy Disney tween flicks like The Princess Diaries, but she's grown up fast in movies like Brokeback Mountain and The Devil Wears Prada.

Backstory

The Brooklyn-born, Jersey-raised Hathaway is the daughter of a former stage actress, so it's no surprise that she joined a local theater group as a teenager. She made her TV debut in the short-lived Fox series Get Real while still in high school, only to see the show get cancelled after just one season. In 2000 she left for college at Vassar, but soon transferred to NYU's individualized Gallatin School, a haven for other celebrity pseudo-students like the Olsen twins. (She claims to be still enrolled, although sightings of her in academic buildings have been scarce of late.) Hathaway's big break came in 2001 when she starred in the saccharine Disney flick The Princess Diaries, which led to parts in a series of similar Disney films like Ella Enchanted and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, both of which came out in 2004. She's since turned to more adult fare, earning billing as the next Julia Roberts or Audrey Hepburn.

Of note

Like many an ex-Disney star, Hathaway has worked hard to shed her squeaky-clean image and prove that she's a serious actress. She appeared topless onscreen twice in 2005—a subject she was more than happy to discuss in interviews—once in Ang Lee's acclaimed gay cowboy drama Brokeback Mountain, and again in the not-so-acclaimed Valley-girls-and-gangbangers flick Havoc. Not uncoincidentally, around the same time, she developed a habit of wearing red carpet dresses that turned sheer once the flashbulbs started going off. These days she's trying to flex her leading lady muscles. After a reasonably well-received turn opposite Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, she played Jane Austen in 2007's historical biopic Becoming Jane. She graduated to the world of luxe endorsement deals in 2008, signing on as the new face of Lancôme. In summer '08 she tested out her comedy chops, appearing opposite funnyman Steve Carell in the movie version of the Get Smart TV series.

Personal

Hathaway seems to be fond of bad boys (and the occasional girl). She dated nightlife impresario Scott Sartiano for a while and later attached herself to Italian playboy/con-artist Raffaello Follieri, who was indicted in June 2008 of allegedly swindled investors out of millions by posing as the Vatican's official real estate dealmaker. But Hathaway is also capable of raising eyebrows all by herself: In 2006, rumors surfaced that she was involved with her Princess Diaries co-star Heather Matarazzo, although many chalked it up to a publicity stunt. Hathaway lives in the West Village and has a chocolate Lab named Esmerelda.

True story

Apparently, her good-girl image endures. At a 2006 charity auction, socialites Cynthia Lufkin and Caryn Effron paid $20,000 each to have Hathaway babysit their children for a day.