Anne Hathaway attorney, and her mother, Kate ("née" McCauley), is a former actress. Hathaway's maternal grandfather was WIP-AM Philadelphia radio personality Joe McCauley. Kate is of Irish descent, and Gerald is of Irish, French, English and German ancestry. Hathaway's surname originates in England, and she was named after Shakespeare's wife. She is the second of three children, with two brothers, one older, Michael, and one younger, Thomas. When she was six, her family moved to Millburn, New Jersey, where she then grew up. At age six, when Hathaway watched her mother perform in "Les Misérables" as Fantine, she instantly became fascinated with
Anne Hathaway stated that her religious beliefs are "a work in progress". Hathaway attended Brooklyn Heights Montessori School and Wyoming Elementary School in Millburn. She graduated from Millburn High School, where she played soccer and participated in many plays, including "Once Upon a Mattress", in which she portrayed Winnifred. Later, she appeared in other plays like "Jane Eyre" and "Gigi", at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1993 and became the first teenager admitted into the Barrow Group Theater Company's acting program. She spent several semesters studying as an English major and political