Anne Hathaway can celebrate her 30th birthday today, happy in the knowledge that she might be in with a shot for an Oscar for her performance in 'Les Miserables', already buzzing with Awards hype for its all-singing performance from its leads, including Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Eddie Redmayne.
Along with her wedding to Adam Schulman, this success might just make it Hathaway's biggest year yet.
Hathaway claims she knew she nailed her audition for the film, and felt another actress would have to "do something pretty special" to steal the role away from her.
Producers initially ruled Hathaway out of the running over fears she was too young to play struggling mum Fantine, but the stubborn star demanded the chance to try out for the stage show adaptation.
The actress performed the character's big number 'I Dreamed A Dream' at her meeting with director Tom Hooper, and was brimming with confidence when she walked away from the three-hour audition.
She tells Vogue magazine, "I knew that someone was going to have to go in there and do something pretty special to unseat me. Sometimes you leave a room and you feel like maybe you've left the door open a crack. This time, I knew that I had slammed it shut behind me."
However, Hooper reveals Hathaway had some stiff competition, adding, "It was little short of astonishing - one of the greatest auditions I've ever had the privilege to witness. I'd already had a pretty extraordinary group of female film stars come in.
"But what was so inspiring about Annie was that I was sitting there still trying to work out, 'How does one act through song on film? How do you make these songs work in a close-up and get them to tell a story?' And Annie provided the answer. It was one of those moments where I relaxed because I thought, 'Oh, it's going to work'. She gave me reassurance that what I was aiming for in my head was possible."
Happy 30th.
