Anne Hathaway had some kind words and appreciation for director Christopher Nolan after she suffered an Oscars backlash years ago.

The actress had an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair where she referred to the director as an “angel” for him hiring her, despite public opinion. The world seemed to turn against the Oscar winner after brutal mockings online.

Hathaway said, “A lot of people wouldn't give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online. I had an angel in Christopher Nolan, who did not care about that and gave me one of the most beautiful roles I've had in one of the best films that I've been a part of.”

She added, “I don't know if he knew that he was backing me at the time, but it had that effect. And my career did not lose momentum the way it could have if he hadn't backed me.”

According to Variety, she's referring to the role of NASA scientist Dr. Amelia Brand in 2014's Interstellar. Prior to this role, she worked with Nolan in The Dark Knight Rises as Selina Kyle.

“Humiliation is such a rough thing to go through,” she continued. “The key is to not let it close you down. You have to stay bold, and it can be hard because you're like, ‘If I stay safe, if I hug the middle, if I don't draw too much attention to myself, it won't hurt.' But if you want to do that, don't be an actor. You're a tightrope walker. You're a daredevil. You're asking people to invest their time and their money and their attention and their care into you. So you have to give them something worth all those things. And if it's not costing you anything, what are you really offering?”

Internet trolls Anne Hathaway

The “hate” for Anne Hathaway started after her Golden Globes acceptance speech, which led to her Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress in Les Misérables. The name Hathahater started making its rounds across social media, and many hopped on the bandwagon.

According to Paper Mag, many accused her of projecting a faux earnestness and “air of self-importance.”

It really just became almost trendy amongst internet trolls to hate on her just…because. There wasn't any real concrete evidence to support any claims of her actually being a despicable person by any means, yet the fury online continued.

Hathaway handled the haters with empowerment

Whatever the case, the online hatred didn't bash the actress to the point where she wanted to quit.

In an interview with The Sun in 2021, she said, “I really don't want to dredge up the past but I did have my monster out there. I did have the internet turn on me and hate me and it was like a whole big thing. And it was a really good thing for me personally. You can be incredibly empowered because of those things. So I guess what I'd say is when the bad shit happens, don't fear it — just go with it, flow with it.”

Her career has flourished since the internet trolls took over, so it is great that she rose above it all. And don't be surprised to see her team up with Christopher Nolan again sometime soon.

Next up for Anne Hathaway is the film The Idea of You, which streams on May 2 on Prime Video.