Oscars viewers had plenty of opinions about former cohosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco during the 2011 ceremony — but Hathaway may be her harshest critic yet.
The actress recently admitted her stint as host was, at times, a bit cringe-worthy. So, as attendees and fans speculated about how Sunday’s show would survive without a host for the first time in decades, Hathaway offered some reassurance.
“No matter what happens with today’s show, just remember, it’s already been worse. Happy Oscars!” she joked in an Instagram post Sunday afternoon, receiving more than 630,000 like within just two hours.
Thousands of people commented on Hathaway’s post — some piled onto the star’s self-depricating crack, while others praised her honesty.
“That’s the spirit, girl!” one fan exclaimed.
“That is why we love you,” another chimed in.
“You were amazing Annie, and you looked great too! Just too much personality and life force for James,” a woman joked.
Hathaway, who won best supporting actress for her role in “Les Miserables” in 2013, recently discussed the difficulties she encountered while hosting Hollywood’s biggest event.
At the time Hathaway was just 28 years old, making her the youngest ever to host the show.
“[Franco] didn’t give me anything,” Hathaway told People in January. “God, I just remember the night before we’re about to go up there, and me turning to everyone and going, ‘Am I too much? This feels really big to me.’ And the producer just went, ‘No! Don’t do less. Do more if you need to.’ And I was like, ‘Oh okay, I guess it’s going great.’ And I didn’t realize what was happening about that whole thing.”
“It’s just a no-win situation. You’re not trained at this, how is this going to enhance your life? All of the reasons why.”
The 36-year-old revealed to the magazine that she almost turned down the opportunity but claims Franco eventually convinced her to take a leap of faith. And she agreed, though she says in the future she plans on following her first instinct.
“When all the dust settled, I was just like, ‘You gotta be kidding me. Your first instinct is usually the right one.’ And all the reasons why I turned it down came true. All of them. It’s just a no-win situation. You’re not trained at this, how is this going to enhance your life? All of the reasons why. Even the people who do it spectacularly well — like Hugh Jackman, Jimmy Kimmel, Ellen DeGeneres — usually just get a ‘meh’ from everyone. It’s a really hard gig to stick the landing on,” she added.
