Anne Hathaway: 2005–present: Career transition

Anne Hathaway began appearing in more dramatic roles after The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Hathaway said that "anybody who was a role model for children needs a reprieve", although she also noted that "it's lovely to think that my audience is growing up with me", a reference to her previous status as a children's actress. She voiced a version of Little Red Riding Hood in Hoodwinked! (2005), which received generally mixed reviews. That same year, Hathaway was cast in the R-rated Havoc (2005), in which she played a spoiled socialite. In a surprise move, Hathaway was featured in several nude and sexual scenes throughout the film. Despite the content of the movie being radically different from her previous films, Hathaway has denied that her role in the film was a blatant attempt to be seen as more of an adult actress, citing her belief that doing nudity in certain movies is merely a part of what her chosen form of art demands of her, and because of that belief she does not consider appearing nude in the appropriate films to be morally objectionable.

After Havoc, Anne Hathaway appeared in the drama Brokeback Mountain (2005), opposite Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, in a role that further displayed a more serious side of Hathaway. Havoc was not released in theaters in the United States (but was later released in other countries) because of its weak critical reception, but Brokeback Mountain won rave reviews for its depiction of a homosexual relationship in the 1960s, and received several Academy Award nominations. Anne Hathaway would later assert that the content of Brokeback Mountain was more important than its award count and also stated that making the film made her more aware of the kind of stories she wanted to tell as an actress.

Her next film was The Devil Wears Prada (2006), in which she starred as an assistant to a powerful fashion magazine editor (Meryl Streep, whom Hathaway described as being "just divine"). Hathaway said that working on the film earned her respect in the fashion industry, but she claims that her personal style is something she "can't get right" and instead prefers "doing the things she loves."

In an interview with Us Weekly, Hathaway spoke about her weight loss for the film. "I basically stuck with fruit, vegetables and fish (to slim down for the movie). I wouldn’t recommend that. Emily Blunt and I would clutch at each other and cry because we were so hungry."

Hathaway was initially cast in the 2007 comedy Knocked Up but dropped out before filming began and was replaced by Katherine Heigl. Writer/director Judd Apatow stated in a May 2007 issue of The New York Times Magazine that Hathaway dropped out "because she didn't want to allow us to use real footage of a woman giving birth to create the illusion that she is giving birth." In an August 2008 interview with Marie Claire magazine, Hathaway commented, "I turned down another movie [Knocked Up] because it was going to show a vagina — not mine, but somebody else's — and I didn't believe that it was necessary to the story."

Anne Hathaway was next seen in Becoming Jane, was released in mid-2007, in which Hathaway stars as English writer Jane Austen.

Tim Burton considered Hathaway for the part of Johanna in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, but in the end the role was given to Jayne Wisener, a then-unknown actress, reportedly because Burton decided he wanted an unknown actress for the part.

Anne Hathaway's first film of 2008 was a modern adaptation of the 1960s Mel Brooks television series "Get Smart", in which she starred opposite Steve Carell, Dwayne Johnson, and Alan Arkin. The film was a hit at the box office and received mostly positive reviews, prompting talk of a sequel. She also made a cameo appearance in the spin-off film Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control. In October 2008 she will star in the drama Passengers, alongside Patrick Wilson. She has recently completed the drama Rachel Getting Married, opposite Debra Winger. The film premiered at the 2008 Venice Film Festival to wide acclaim. Hathaway's dark role as a recovering drug addict has already generated Oscar buzz, with the Hollywood Reporter declaring, "An award-worthy Anne Hathaway gives the story a clear central focus." Rival trade publication Variety called her "fragile, angry, superb". Hathaway told Metromix that the film appealed to her because of its real depiction of relationships, "I think that love has a dark side, and I love that this movie explores it and doesn’t try to judge it or presuppose that love and darkness come in the exclusion of each other. Cause that’s life." Hathaway has also finished filming the comedy Bride Wars, in which she will star with Kate Hudson. The film is scheduled to be released on January 9, 2009.

It was announced in January 2008 that Anna Hathaway would be joining beauty giant, Lancôme, as the face of their newest fragrance to be launched in September 2008.She recently completed an ad for the company as the new face of Magnifique.