Inside Anne Hathaway's Marriage
It is safe to say Anne Hathaway has a complicated history with her public image. The actor went from the endlessly relatable Mia Thermopolis in "The Princess Diaries" franchise to one of the more hated figures in Hollywood in the space of a few years, before settling on a private life far more removed from the limelight. This life is the one she now shares with her husband, Adam Shulman, who has seen her through tough times and great joys alike.
Their marriage, which has withstood its fair share of emotional trauma, seems to only go from strength to strength; hearing what Hathaway has to say about Shulman, it is almost hard to imagine two people more compatible. Finding true love can sometimes feel like locating a diamond in the rough. Clearly, Anne Hathaway has found a glimmering diamond of relationship with jewelry designer Adam Shulman. Grab your jeweler's loupe, because we're going to take a closer look at this relationship.
Anne Hathaway wanted 'alone time' before she met Adam Shulman
When a friend introduced Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman in the fall of 2008, the timing was pretty terrible — but it all worked out in the end. The actor had just split from her ex Raffaello Follieri in June 2008, and the fallout from that very messy relationship had her, as she told Marie Claire UK, "actually looking forward to a little alone time."
Hathaway dated Follieri for four years before the Daily Mail reported they called it quits. The Italian businessman, as it turned out, wasn't as much a savvy entrepreneur as he was a "a sophisticated scam artist," as assistant U.S. Attorney Reed Brodsky put it during Follieri's eventual trial in October 2008 (via Reuters). Not only did Follieri lie about being in close contact with Pope John Paul II to secure millions of dollars from investors, but he also pleaded guilty to "14 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and money-laundering charges," as reported by Vanity Fair.
Follieri was sentenced to four and a half years in jail, which he served until 2012. This was, understandably, a difficult time for Hathaway. "As soon as I found out about the arrest, I had to get on a plane to Mexico to do a press tour for 'Get Smart,'" she told W Magazine. "And then I spent a week in shock at a friend's house." Maybe not quite the most auspicious circumstances to meet your future husband under — and yet.
Anne Hathaway knew instantly she would wed Adam Shulman
Anne Hathaway essentially fell for Adam Shulman the moment they met. Speaking to a friend after their first encounter, the actor said, "I'm going to marry that man," according to Harper's Bazaar. How did that work out, you ask? Well, the two of them have been together ever since, and married for eight of those as of October 2020 — so either Hathaway is just a true romantic, or she has some serious psychic tendencies. Maybe a bit of both.
At first, though, it didn't seem like things were going to be so smooth-sailing. As she explained to David Letterman in 2012, Hathaway was told that Shulman was already taken, even though he wasn't. Although the actor clearly already knew that the producer and jewelry designer was the one for her, it would be weeks before she found out the truth about Shulman's relationship status and was finally able to act on what started as a crush — and turned into long-lasting love.
Adam Shulman and Anne Hathaway's first date was a trip
Six weeks after she and Adam Shulman first met, Anne Hathaway put her own, famous-person spin on the classic dinner-and-a-movie first date. As she explained on the "Late Show With David Letterman," she decided to invite her new flame to follow her across state lines to a New Orleans screening of her movie "Rachel Getting Married." As she told Letterman, she had a spare ticket for the feature film, in which she portrays the main character Kym Buchman. "My two best girlfriends from LA couldn't go, and I just thought, you know, of all the people I know in LA, I think I'd have the best time with that guy Adam," Hathaway recalled.
Shulman was clearly unfazed by this unusual proposition, since the pair ended up attending the screening together in NOLA that November. Speaking to Life & Style (via Gawker), Shulman said, "We met through mutual friends. I came to support Anne. We've never been to New Orleans before – it's our first time." The first date obviously went pretty well, and as Hathaway shared on a 2020 episode of "The Drew Barrymore Show," their second date happened at the daytime chat show host's Halloween party.
Anne Hathaway was 'not in a good place' when they met
When asked by Harper's Bazaar UK whether she had "trust issues" entering into a relationship with Adam Shulman, Anne Hathaway admitted that she felt pretty scared. After what happened with Raffaello Follieri, it's not exactly shocking that Hathaway found it hard to fall for someone else — even if she had such a strong inkling she would eventually marry Shulman. When she broke things off with Follieri, not only did she have to mourn a four-year relationship, but she also had to hand over her personal diaries to the FBI as well as temporarily stay at a friend's while looking for a place of her own. "It's a situation where the rug was pulled out from under me all of a sudden," Hathaway told W Magazine in October 2008.
In her interview with Harper's Bazaar UK, Hathaway recalled what she said to Shulman in the early days of their courtship: "I believe, because I need to believe, that what just happened to me was the exception and not the rule, and that people are good and you are a good person, because I feel it. And so I am not in a good place right now, but I'm going with this." Hathaway's gamble paid off, as Shulman got down on one knee just three years after they met, in November 2011.
Adam Shulman helped design Anne Hathaway's ring
A jewelry designer by trade, Adam Shulman was directly involved in designing his future wife's engagement ring. Shulman is at the helm of his own jewelry brand with business partner Heidi Nahser Fink, James Banks Design, which they created together in 2011. However, he went a different route when it came to proposing, choosing instead to collaborate with the experts at Kwiat to create Anne Hathaway's perfect sparkler.
Speaking to E! News, a rep for Kwiat said, "We were honored to have the opportunity to work with Adam. He had a strong vision for what he wanted to present to Anne and we worked with him to make a custom design." The ring, which Shulman gave Hathaway in November 2011, features a 6-carat emerald cut diamond set in a simple pavé band, according to Ringspo. It was thought to cost around $150,000 at the time, according to Us Weekly.
The proposal went down shortly after Hathaway decided she would actually shave her head for her role in "Les Misérables." On an episode of "The Graham Norton Show" (via The Express), she recalled, "I was very excited when I put the phone down [after agreeing to cut my hair] and he said, 'Okay darling, there's probably one thing you're not thinking about. How do you feel about being a bald bride?'" Well, she got an Oscar and a happy marriage, so it seems like it all panned out.
Unsurprisingly, their wedding was very private
Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman rarely share details about their life together, and their September 2012 wedding was equally understated. Speaking to People, an unnamed guest said, "It was just friends and family. No movie stars. There were only a few people in the business there, like her stunt double." The couple said "I do" at sunset in Big Sur, California, and celebrated their love over a whole weekend in the coastal town.
Though we still have few details about the private ceremony, Hathaway's wedding dress was much discussed — even before she actually got married. It came courtesy of legendary designer Valentino Garavani, better known as simply Valentino. "She's a very good friend of mine," the couturier told E! News in the days leading up to the big event. "She's like my daughter!"
As for the dress itself, a rep for Valentino told the Telegraph, "Mr. Valentino Garavani designed it especially for Anne and our seamstresses at the couture atelier in Rome made it." It was a gown more than worthy of the Princess of Genovia, as big and poofy as you'd hope, with a long train featuring pink accents and satin flowers. Shulman wore a timeless black tux, according to Hello!
The couple used their wedding photos for good
Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman are committed to many charitable causes — so committed in fact that they used their wedding photographs to raise funds for a selection of non-profits close to their hearts. According to ContactMusic, the pictures were sold to various media outlets and the earnings distributed among a selection of charities, including Freedom to Marry, which at the time was working to make gay marriage legal in the United States (a win that finally happened in 2015).
LGBTQ+ rights are hugely important to Hathaway, who has a gay brother and has been honored twice by the Human Rights Campaign for her activism in the community. In her acceptance speech in 2008, Hathaway said, "In my household, being gay was, and is, no big deal. When my brother came out, we hugged him, said we loved him, and that was that." In 2018, HRC presented the actor with a National Equality Award, according to Variety.
Hathaway is also a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, and she and her husband are long-time champions of children's charities. In 2013, Shulman and his business partner Heidi Nahser Fink designed a necklace shaped like a key and inspired by World of Children's logo in order to raise money for the organization. Doing good is in the couple's DNA.
Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman have worked together
A jack of many trades, Adam Shulman isn't just a jewelry designer. Anne Hathaway's other half also happens to be a producer and actor. In 2014, he and his movie star wife collaborated on her first producing credit, the movie "Song One," directed by Kate Barker-Froyland (pictured on the right). "I really loved producing," Hathaway told Variety at the movie's New York premiere. "I loved being able to support a filmmaker in a way beyond acting in a movie."
Harper's Bazaar also noted that Hathaway and Shulman worked together on feature films "The Shower" and "Puzzler." However, despite both movies having been first announced years ago (in 2015 and 2011 respectively, per The Hollywood Reporter), they are still marked as "in development" on IMDb. That makes it anyone's guess whether they will ever see the light of day. As for Shulman, he currently has five acting credits to his name, including a minor role in the 2015 movie "Ricki and the Flash," starring Meryl Streep.
The couple struggled with infertility
One of the major trials Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman have faced together was their difficulty having children. In a 2019 interview with the Daily Mail, Anne Hathaway spoke candidly about her struggle with infertility, explaining that she wanted to open up about it so that others knew they weren't alone. This came after she told her Instagram followers that her road to pregnancy was "not a straight line." Speaking to the Mail, the actor revealed, "Each time I was trying to get pregnant and it wasn't going my way, someone else would manage to conceive. I knew intellectually that it didn't happen just to torment me, but, to be honest, it felt a little bit like it did."
As hard as this all was for the couple, they are now proud parents to two boys. It's obvious to anyone who listens that Hathaway is completely enamored with her kids. Appearing on "Live With Kelly and Ryan" in October 2020, the movie star described her sons' sweet relationship. When Ryan Seacrest asked her how her eldest was "coping" with the new baby, she replied, "No coping. No coping, just love. Now Jack's big enough to wrestle with and that's brought a new element to their relationship that's really cute."
The odd conspiracy about Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman
Google "Anne Hathaway marriage" and you'll be met with a host of results pertaining to a very different Anne Hathaway — the wife of William Shakespeare, whom he married in 1582. You don't need us to tell you that this is not the modern-day actor who has starred in the likes of "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Witches." Well, there was a time several years ago when certain people on the internet didn't think the distinction was quite so clear-cut.
Beyond the two Anne Hathaways' shared name, it seems that one's husband, Adam Shulman, bears a striking resemblance to the other's, a certain 16th century Bard, as one Twitter user helpfully pointed out in 2018. The tweet, which quickly went viral, ignited a whole conspiracy movement that Shulman was in fact Shakespeare reincarnated to reunite with Hathaway, as reported by BuzzFeed News. Other bizarre theories included time travel and Hathaway and Shulman as vampires. Okay, then.
Adam Shulman helped Anne Hathaway 'be in the world comfortably'
Anne Hathaway has been through a lot — including years of people publicly hating her — and her husband has played a big role in supporting her through the tough times. "He changed my ability to be in the world comfortably," Hathaway told Elle in 2017. "I think the accepted narrative now is that we, as women, don't need anybody. But I need my husband. His unique and specific love has changed me."
Unlike many tempestuous celebrity relationships, Hathaway's and Shulman's seems to have true lasting power, since the actor has barely changed her tune since first meeting her now-husband. "I am very much in love with him, [only] Adam totally ruined my plan," Hathaway told Marie Claire UK in 2011. "I was really actually looking forward to a little alone time, and then I fell in love like a fool!" Ten years, a wedding and two children later, Shulman is still "the one" for Hathaway, as she told The Sun in 2021.
Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman live quite well
Though Adam Shulman's various ventures mean he's not exactly hurting for dough, Anne Hathaway is apparently worth 60 times more than her husband, cashing in at $60 million to Shulman's $1 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. The website reports that Hathaway was paid $1 million (her husband's entire net worth!) for her role as Andy Sachs in "The Devil Wears Prada" and earned a whopping $10 million for "Les Misérables." But the star has only become more coveted over the years, commanding the eye-watering sum of $15 million for "Barbie," which has yet to be released, according to The Independent. Hathaway's side hustle as a brand ambassador for the likes of Lancôme and Tod's hasn't hurt her bank account either.
As for Shulman, his money seems to come from his acting and producing career and his jewelry-making, as well as from the sale of property he co-owned with Hathaway, according to Celebrity Net Worth. These days, Shulman's jewelry line, James Banks Design, seems to be thriving. According to its website, the company hand makes every piece in Marin County, California, using recycled materials to create unique pieces.
They invented a backstory for their California home
Not content with how dreamy their storybook-esque home in California already is, Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman came up with a whole fake history for it. As Architectural Digest noted in 2019, they named Yves Saint-Laurent and Wes Anderson as the previous owners of the chalet-inspired abode, among other wacky (and totally made up) factoids. In reality, they worked with designer Pamela Shamshiri to create their perfect retreat out of the residence, which was built in the early 1900s. "This house inspired lots of crazy creative discussions, but Pam wasn't thrown by any of it," Shulman told the outlet. "She brought a sense of sophistication, magic, and fun to the whole process."
This is far from the first piece of property the couple has shared: In 2020, they put their gorgeous New York City penthouse up for sale, according to the Evening Standard. And as the Westport News reported in 2016, they also bought a lovely beachside house in Westport, Connecticut. However, the property wasn't part of their portfolio for long, and they lost $90,000 on it when they sold the place in 2018.
Anne Hathaway leaned on Adam Shulman during the pandemic
Like many of us when the coronavirus first hit, Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman felt out of their depth. "In the early days of lockdown we were all so overwhelmed and there was a lot to process and I needed a release but I didn't want to scare my kids, so I screamed into a pillow a lot," Hathaway told The Sun. But through it all, her doting husband was ever the perfect partner. "Adam is great," the Oscar winner said. "If you're going to be quarantined with another adult, my husband is the one." Aw, these two.
Eventually, though, Hathaway channeled the frustration into the movie "Locked Down," which came out in January 2021 and uses the pandemic as a plot device. The movie, a very timely heist co-starring Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor, unfortunately didn't do so well, scoring 43% on the critics' side on Rotten Tomatoes, and coming in at a dire 29% with the audience. Nonetheless, we're sure Hathaway has many more box office-topping movies under her belt — we can't wait to see what she has in store.