Anne Hathaway Just Revealed That She Was Having A Panic Attack In One Of Her Most Memed Moments—And Fans Are Floored

Anne Hathaway has been involved in a lot of memes throughout her career, from looking disappointedly at an ice cream cone to her transformation as Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries becoming one of the most frequently trending sounds on TikTok.

Fortunately, not only is Hathaway aware of many of these mentions, but based on her Esquire interview opposite Star Wars star Ewan McGregor, she finds many of them quite funny.

The End of Oak Street costars decided to talk about some of these viral moments in more detail, so Hathaway focused on two of her favorites.

The first involved a delicious sweet treat. Hathaway explained:

"So, there was this one where I was walking down the street. I was early to go to the gym, and did I get on a piece of cardio equipment? No, I didn't."

"There was a bakery around the corner, and I bought a cupcake. They gave me a bag, and I thought, 'Okay, that'll be my reward after I work out.'"

"Mind you, I'm seven months pregnant at the time."

"But then I'm walking down the street, and I'm like, 'I'm just gonna eat the cupcake now, and then I'll burn it off!'"

"I start eating the cupcake, only to realize I'm having my photograph taken by a pap."

At that realization, she made a disappointed kind of sneering face. The series of photos were later used to make a "comic" of sorts called, "Me realizing I ate all the cupcakes," and the photos had been arranged in an order to look like Hathaway was reaching into the bag for another cupcake, only to realize the bag was empty.

You can see the meme here:

The story was shared on the "Pop Culture Chat" subReddit, where Redditors were glad that Hathaway was not hurt by the meme.

"I know the cupcake one, because I feel the cupcake one in my soul. There is no worse feeling, LOL." -BachS**tCrazy

"I remember laughing so hard at her facial expression and using it for a long time with friends to describe our days lol the perfect expression for the last decade." -DanielKeeneGA15

"It's the worst feeling when you think you have 1 more and you look and there's nothing left." -cheesegoat

"The cupcake one is one of my faves. So relatable!" -My2cents_0

The second meme actually went to a darker place, because Hathaway had been having a panic attack at the time.

Hathaway had been set to guest appear on RuPaul's Drag Race in 2021 in one of the final episodes of the season to give the contestants a few words of advice before moving into their next challenge.

But she was mid-panic attack, so when she attempted to smile when the camera cut to her, it didn't look genuine.

Hathaway recalled:

"It was during the pandemic. I was doing this Zoom, and I had a panic attack."

"I just flushed from here to here [collarbone to chin]. I started sweating, and my hair got really matted to my head, and I just smiled."

"And somebody made me, like, the forever face of HR (Human Resources), because my smile went nowhere near my eyes!"

You can see the meme here:

Redditors from the "Pop Culture Chat" subReddit were shocked, never having known the lore behind the meme.

"D**n, didn't know she was having a panic attack in that picture. That's pretty intense."

"Also, going to the gym at seven months pregnant is impressive." -anonymous310506

"Like she stated, it's a smile that is not connected to her eyes. People visibly emote with their eyes when they smile; that pic looks off bc her eyes aren't emoting accordingly."

"So it instantly feels 'wrong,' as in a soulless or fake smile. Which she admits was the case; she was actually panicking, and the smile was just a front." -andre5913

"It's so accurate to the exact look and energy of my company's HR person; it's frightening." -Fragrant-Vehicle-479

"One of the most evil people from my corporate years was actually a woman in HR who constantly walked around with this face. She was very unhinged, and poor Anne Hathaway does not deserve to be the face of that meme, lol." -shedrinkscoffee

Some appreciated Hathaway's sense of humor and being able to recognize how the memes came to be.

"I’m glad she can find the meme funny, which, I’m sorry, it is, even though at the time she was going through a panic attack." -aliskyart

"Panic attacks are funny in that, as long as you come out of it ok and don't hurt yourself or anyone else, oftentimes the trigger and following event can seem funny in hindsight." -m4teri4lgirl

"The HR meme is hilarious. I’m glad she has a good sense of humor about it, LOL." -fanficmilf6969

"I can't imagine having a meme of me eating cupcakes seven months pregnant. No matter how thick-skinned, on some level, this has got to hurt a bit. I'd love to be rich, but fame, no way!" -Lushkush69

"I feel like this speaks to how elegantly she can basically remind us that you never know what people are going through. I don't know if I could ever fully be okay with my panic attack memorialized into a meme given that they are so brutal, even if it was several years ago!" -apinkgummybear

These memes might be mortifying for some people, but Hathaway handled them brilliantly, and her love for them makes them that much funnier!