Anne Hathaway reveals how she lost 25 lbs for ‘Les Mis’: ‘I just had to stop eating’

Anne Hathaway Hugh Jackman

Anne Hathaway’s Oscar campaign for Les Miserables has begun in earnest even though it’s already been fairly evident during her recent interviews that she’s been ramping up for the inevitable weight-loss discussion. Kaiser totally it called during a discussion of Anne’s Access Hollywood interview when she said Anne was saving the big stuff for a better outlet. Now, the moment has arrived in a new Hollywood Reporter interview where Anne begins to reveal more than just cursory details of oatmeal paste. It’s almost amusing how she’s rationing her Oscar-baited goods, so to speak, isn’t it? Here we go:

Anne Hathaway

Anne on securing her role: “There was resistance because I was between their ideal ages for the parts — maybe not mature enough for Fantine but past the point where I could believably play Cosette [Fantine’s daughter, later embodied by Seyfried]. And I did what I do when I really want a role: I got fiery and told my agent, ‘Just get me in the room.'”

Anne on her weight loss: She immersed herself in the role, hiring a researcher who led her to books on sexual slavery and losing weight in two stages (she lost 10 pounds over three weeks before the shoot and an extra 15 pounds during production as her character degenerated). “I just had to stop eating,” she says, “all for a total of 13 days’ shooting.”

Hugh lost some weight (and gained) some weight too! Jackman also had to shed weight to portray the gaunt convict seen at the film’s beginning — he dropped 15 pounds before bingeing and adding 30 more to mirror Valjean’s burgeoning success. “I was eating anything I could,” he says. “If ever there are any outtakes, there’s a lot of me burping.”

Hugh on the tough shoot: After a skeletal crew was sent to Gourdon in France to shoot Jackman wandering the mountains, filming shifted to England and the British coast, where a massive early sequence takes place with scores of convicts dragging a ship into port while being doused with waves. “It was 12 degrees, and the water was coming straight off the ocean,” sighs Jackman. “We were there for three days.”

[From Hollywood Reporter]

Hugh doesn’t really seem to be pushing for an Oscar, does he? He’s gained and lost weight for roles before, so this is really old hat for him. I think he’d be fine with winning an award, but it’s not his thing to worry about if and when it happens. Some actors are like that, and I think I’d prefer to be of that mindset than losing self respect just for a gold-plated statuette. Then again, I usually enjoy watching actors dole out the dish in an effort to win votes from The Academy, so there’s that.

Here are a few photos of Anne in London ahead of the Les Miserables premiere. Jeans and flowers suit her much more than that dreadful premiere dress.

Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway

Photos courtesy of WENN

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49 Responses to “Anne Hathaway reveals how she lost 25 lbs for ‘Les Mis’: ‘I just had to stop eating’”

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  1. KellyinSeattle says:

    I wish she would just be quiet for a minute.
    Her jeans look like grandma jeans from QVC. (no offense grandmas)

  2. marie says:

    I thought she said she wouldn’t be talking about that, she wouldn’t want anyone to follow her crazy diet? she annoys me more daily..

  3. mssnarnd says:

    And the Oscar goes to . . . STFU.

    • I Choose Me says:

      Okay this made me snort laugh. 😀

      She’s starting to annoy me more and more. And here I go breaking my resolve not to read any more Anne posts until her campaigning is done.

  4. lower-case deb says:

    unfortunately, this year the losing weight, cutting hair bit is not as “special” as it used to be.

    what with the gaggle of weight-losers, hair-losers, eye-brow losers, weight-gainers, shave-headers, zip-breakers, and the odd weave-busters.

    • BooBooLaRue says:

      LMAO! Can any of the gaggle really act well enough to win the Oscar?

    • mssnarnd says:

      She’ll have a whole book full of wedding photos to always remind her of that horrible hair cut. David Letterman may have gushed over it . . . well, there’s your sign.

    • Cazzie says:

      Seriously….there oughta be a rule: losing a ton of weight or cutting off all your hair should automatically EXCLUDE you from consideration for an Academy Award.

      Otherwise you have what’s going on today, where actors with middling talent figure that their best “in” for an Oscar is…cutting off all their hair and losing a ton of weight. So sick of it.

  5. kixendawn says:

    I’m sure she’s as tired talking about her weight as we are hearing it. I assume she doesn’t want to be talking about her weight day after day after day. It’s beause interviewers can’t come up with any unique questions. And Im sure every single interview she sits down for these days she gets asked about her weight loss and inevitably ends up on gossip sites.

  6. Sel says:

    Dang it Anne!! Here I was defending you for not telling Access Hollywood how you lost the weight because I thought maybe someone brought it to your attention that you could be a source of thinspiration for the pro-ana set when you were just saving it for another outlet. Gah. I’ve lost a little respect for you Anne. But I still like ya.

    (And I’m oh-so-sure that she cares about little old me in the Midwest.)

    • T.C. says:

      Kaiser was right. Access Hollywood is not high brow enough for her to talk to about her weight loss “art”. LMAO.

  7. Ramona Q. says:

    Boo. Is any actress besides Renee Z. willing to GAIN a lot of weight for a role??

    • Reece says:

      Not anymore. She wanted to wear a fat suit for Bridget 3.

      • Lou says:

        Bridget Jones isn’t even meant to be fat! In the books, she weighs around 126 pounds (9 stone). She talks about it all the time. That’s not fat!! The whole point is that Bridget isn’t fat and she’s worrying abut nothing, because SHE DOES THAT.

        Argh. It’s ridiculous. I hate Hollywood.

    • carrie says:

      charlize theron for Monsters! this year Sally Field lost and gained many weight for Lincoln

  8. Green Is Good says:

    I hope Anne loses BIG TIME at the Oscars. STFU already.

  9. RobN says:

    I really don’t think that actors who try so hard have any idea how it makes the public turn on them. People don’t like the stench of desperation.

  10. Alexis says:

    She is so annoying. All this for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar? Fantine isn’t even really a lead role. Fantine and Eponine are the most important female roles, but they are not lead roles. Les Mis doesn’t really have female leads. I would say only Valjean and Javert count as leads.

  11. Vivian says:

    I now really really hope that she doesn’t get the Oscar. Loosing so much weight and chopping hair shouldn’t be serious factors and her campaigning is now way too much. I resent it because it reeks of entitlement when it should be focus on an actor’s ability to bring a role to life base on their performance and acting talent (not physical characteristics or campaigning)! Besides her competitors are so talented without the constant campaign or emphasis on Ohhh I lost weight etc. it is also not good for younger, newer actress that may start to believe that this is the way to go about it etc. ok end of rant.

  12. emmie_a says:

    She had to hire a researcher to help her find books about sexual slavery? Is it really that hard to find a book or do research — especially with the Internet? That’s pretty sad.

    • littlestar says:

      I thought it was really weird too! Maybe she hired the researcher to actually do everything for Anne, and then told Anne all of the “good” stuff so she didn’t have to waste her time reading/researching. Who knows… But you are right, the internet has a wealth of info.

  13. andy says:

    AH needs to work at being less transparent. Anne is working hard for that Oscar.

    Please let her lose. If she loses, I hope the camera gets a good shot of her face when it happens. It will be delightful.

    • wanderlust says:

      That would be worth watching the whole Oscar mess. I hope Hugh gets a surprise nomination and she gets disappointment. This made me see her as so shallow.

  14. SeeSuzySing says:

    America is obsessed with losing weight and so reporters constantly ask her about it. See: How I lost the baby weight covers, DWTS weight loss, Kardashians quick trim, etc. etc etc.

    It’s not her fault that we are obsessed as a culture on looks and weight. It’s what she did for the role as the part called for it. HATERS GONNA HATE.

    She’s talking because she’s doing her job of promoting the movie and doing interviews. I’m sure she is sick of answering that question and has stopped responding. Do you need to be reminded that these interviews are done months ahead of publication?

  15. Lisa says:

    How dangerous is talking about this really? It’s not new information. You eat less, or not at all, you lose weight. Some of it is muscle, which sucks. But she isn’t sanctioning it. She’s far from the first to lose weight for a role.

    • Liv says:

      And you know what? She tries to play a figure, who’s dying. Stop eating and you will die. It’s not a cool thing, but somehow it amazes many people.

  16. Happy21 says:

    I have nothing nice to say so am not going to say anything 😉

    Happy Friday!

  17. Hubbahun says:

    Oh FFS, you didn’t ‘have’ to do anything – it’s a bloody acting role not curing cancer. Get over yourself. I honestly can’t remember such a blatent scheme for Oscar as this – it leaves a very bad taste. She’s a mediocre…well..everything. She’s a ‘friend’ of Rachel Zoe – that should tell you everything. Okay, rant over. 😛

    • MsGoblin says:

      Ah! That’s how she did it. She got her weight loss tips from Rachel Zoe! It all makes sense now.

  18. holly hobby says:

    Sigh, Annie you should really put a cork on this. First you don’t want to talk about it, now you flip flop and tell us your secret.

    I wonder who her challengers are for the award. I hope they give it to Helen Mirren or somebody else. I don’t think she’s Oscar worthy. Look at the people they gave it to (yes they peaked to early): Halle Berry, Charlize Theron, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sandra Bullock. What do they have in common? That’s right their careers aren’t Oscar worthy afterwards.

    • carrie says:

      Theron deserved her oscar! like Hathaway deserves to win this year! she’s fabulous as Fantine!
      and even Mirren’s career after her oscar is so-so

      • holly hobby says:

        Um ok. If you compare Annie to Ruthie Henshaw and Pattie Lupone, nope she doesn’t deserve it. Annie sounds like a mewling kitten next to these singers.

        Yes, I deserve an Oscar for chopping up hair and not eating. Sorry Les Miz is a guy’s movie. The female characters don’t really have a big role.

        Helen Mirren – she was good in that Christopher Plummer movie – The Last Station.

        Charlize hasn’t done much besides that sci fi movie either. Not great acting there.

  19. LeslieM says:

    I loved her in The Princess Diaries, but now I can’t stand her! When some of you here said she would talk about her weight loss again, I thought, “No way.” I thought she decided to keep mum to because someone told her she might be encouraging young girls to try extreem weight loss techniques. No, she didn’t understand the message. Oatmeal paste or just not eating, shut up about it! Also, she never mentions how dangerous it was or how bad her body looked so thin. When I see her in an interview I just cringe. She seems so impressed with herself unlike some actors who can be down to earth. This girl is in the clouds.

  20. lambchops says:

    Maybe I’m naive, but what great dirt on losing the weight is she giving here? She just didn’t eat? I don’t think she’s catering to a better outlet here at all. Maybe this interviewer wanted less specifics than the smaller outlet. I can’t harsh her here.

  21. stellalovejoydiver says:

    Ugh, now she is on my shitlist. This pseudo-concerned “what about the young girls” self-righteousness only to cover up her elitism.

    From:
    “I don’t answer that question. Not to like get super serious about it, but just there’s so many people out there that will try something unhealthy to lose weight,”
    “I don’t want to contribute to that. So actually I don’t answer the question,” the actress added.
    To:
    “I just had to stop eating,” she says, “all for a total of 13 days’ shooting.”

    What a douchebaguette.
    I´m already excited to see her face when she will lose.

  22. yoyo says:

    Isn’t it funny how a person’s personality can COMPLETELY change your perception of a person?

    I used to find Anne Hathaway cute and quircky. Not a classical hollywood beauty, could eat a sandwich or two but maybe she was just one of those gangly people. NOw I find her so damn insufferable and physically ugly and she looks anorexic and unhealthy.
    Can she just STFU already?! Like she EVER eats in real life anyways.

  23. Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

    I know she’s far from a credible source, but I still agreed 100 per cent with January Jones when she talked about the desperate tedium that is Oscar campaigning. Male, female, whatever– it’s just so unbecoming. Why would I respect the work if the only reason for which you were rewarded for it is because you told people that they must? That’s whack.

    It would’ve been far more ‘authentic’ if she had had the dedication to have contracted consumption, had some teeth yanked, engaged in some downtrodden catfighting or got herself put on ice after refusing a dandy. How many of those pounds were lost through sheer gum-bumping? Sorry Anne, suffering artist fail. Even a wh-re who has to the bad won’t be had by this act.

  24. Linda says:

    Between ages for the part? How is she too old for Cosette and Amanday Seyfried isn’t at 27? Anne is only 30. Looks like she already lost her pet part. Now if she only loses the Oscar!!

    • jaye says:

      Seyfried has that doe eyed thing going on. She can look younger than 27. I don’t think Hathaway could pull off looking that young.

  25. rose says:

    Jan 2013 She will announce she is preggers

  26. geneva says:

    I love Russell Crowe even though everyone kind of hates him in America…and I do love his acting. I also have a friend who knows him (I am not saying I know him) and he has been a good friend to this person. Soooo…..I really admire Anne Hathaway and probably in the 1930s or 40s she would be heralded as one of our greatest actresses because she is majorly talented and majorly good at what she does. But, I still feel like I am watching Anne Hathaway acting in a movie as Anne Hathaway. To me maybe in today’s Hollywood it really comes down to who is the most convincing actor of his or her time. To me, Russell Crowe is the cop from LA Confidential, the captain Jack Aubry..you know…what woman in Hollywood (under the age of 50 OK?) can do that and do it well? Maybe we are too critical of actresses and don’t see this skill..but for my money it is not Anne Hathaway. wish it was, though.