Anne Hathaway's 'Eileen' Character Lives Out Her Own Deadly Fantasy

Hollywood has never been very kind to Anne Hathaway, so it’s no surprise her new film will have her playing a manic who gets revenge.

While doing press for her new thriller Eileen, Hathaway was prompted by a reporter to recall a time when she was taken aback or a moment that shocked her. Hathaway recalled a moment very early in her career, she was 16 and doing an interview for a part whose name she doesn’t mention.

"I just remembered one of the very first questions I ever got asked when I started acting and had to do press was: Are you a good girl or a bad girl?" recalls Hathaway now 40. The moment stuck out to her because she was 16 and also, she says she so wished she could act in the manner her character Rebecca in Eileen acts; deadly.

The actress says she hesitated to share this story because she often gets backlash from the press. She feared "an annoying headline." Hathaway was weary of regretting her words but also felt like it was a conversation that is worth bringing up.

Her character is a psychologist at a prison who enacts revenge on an inmate’s mother for allowing her husband to abuse him for years. In the book that the film is based on, the character goes through mental ups and downs and steps outside of the guidelines of her role as a prison psychologist which ends in a tragedy.

So is Hathaway saying that she wishes she had the courage to enact deadly revenge on that reporter? Obviously not, but she is saying she wishes she had the gall that her character had at that moment.

Hathaway at that time and age wasn’t in a position to answer a question like that or even push back and express that she was uncomfortable. We have also seen the press beat up on Hathaway just for being herself (remember that Oscar’s hosting gig?).

The novel is an important one to the actress for that reason alone, the strength of the character. The author, Ottessa Moshfegh was also on hand to make sure her novel was presented the way she intended it to be.

She adapted her novel to a screenplay and hoped that someone strong like Hathaway would play the role. When the Ocean’s 8 actress signed on, Moshfegh was grateful, and Hathaway felt like she was winning a prize.

"I saw a study of female complication that hit me really, really deep, and I felt like Will was a filmmaker that could be trusted to tell complicated stories, especially about females. And that meant a great deal to me,” said Hathaway.

The film made the rounds at the Sundance Film Festival, and it is getting a warm reception. Hathaway is describing it as "extraordinary work.” Hathaway and the film’s goal is to get distribution.

"Eileen is hoping to score with audiences and studio executives after its Sundance screening.”