Dream Weaver

Anne Hathaway Creates Characters That Touch The Heart And Linger In The Mind. Every New Role Is A Visceral Challenge And A Chance To Grow. But Right Now, She Just Wants To Learn To Make Sushi.

- Ashley C. Ford

At the top of June, I woke up to rain on my window and two unread emails. The first message was from an older friend passing along a quote from the author Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat Pray Love; City of Girls) on the differences between people she called “Jackhammers” and those she called “Hummingbirds.” According to Gilbert, Jackhammer People and Hummingbird People are distinct in how they deal with the work they want or feel they are meant to do, but neither approach is more useful or more desirable than the other. She defends the poor Hummingbirds who “bring an idea from here to over there, where you learn something else and you weave it in.” They are undervalued connectors and innovators who change what we believe is possible, she says, insisting that this perspective “ends up keeping the entire culture aerated.” However, when Jackhammers like Gilbert find their meaningful goal or work, “we don’t look up, we don’t veer, and we’re just focused on that until the end of time.” She writes, “It’s efficient; you get a lot done.”

The next email asked if I was available to interview Anne Hathaway. There would be a movie of hers to see, The Last Thing He Wanted, a Netflix original film adapted from the book of the same name by Joan Didion. Despite being deep enough in my own book-writing process to finally begin using the word no liberally, I wanted the assignment. I feel pop-culturally tied to Anne Hathaway by age and interest, and I find the trajectory of her career fascinating. Anne Hathaway is a Jackhammer.