User:Msg4462/sandbox

= Matthew Steven Gardner =

Early life
Hathaway was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her father, Gerald Thomas Hathaway, is a lawyer, and her mother, Kathleen Ann "Kate" (née McCauley), is a former actress who inspired Hathaway to follow in her footsteps. Kathleen played Fantine in the first U.S. tour of Les Misérables. When Hathaway was six years old, her family moved to Millburn, New Jersey, where she grew up. Hathaway is the middle of three children with her older brother, Michael and younger brother, Thomas. Kathleen is of Irish descent, and Gerald is of Irish, French, English and German ancestry. Her surname originates in England.

Hathaway was raised as Roman Catholic with what she considers "really strong values", and stated that she wished to be a nun during her childhood: "When I was 11, I felt like I got a calling from God to be a nun." At the age of fifteen, her relationship with the Catholic Church changed, after learning that Michael was gay. She said: "I realized my older brother was gay, and I couldn't support a religion that didn't support my brother. Now I call myself a non-denominational Christian, because I haven't found the religion for me." The year prior, in 2009, she 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 participated in many school plays and her high school performance as Winnifred in Once Upon a Mattress won her a Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Award nomination for Best Performance by a High School Actress. Later, she appeared in plays, including Jane Eyre and Gigi at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse. She spent several semesters studying as an English major and Women's Studies minor at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, before transferring to New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, referring to her college enrollment as one of her best decisions because she enjoyed being with others who were trying to "grow up".

Hathaway studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and was the first teenager admitted into The Barrow Group Theater Company's acting program. Between 1998 and 1999, she sang soprano with the All-Eastern U.S. High School Honors Chorus at Carnegie Hall and in plays at Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange, New Jersey. She is a trained stage actress and stated that she prefers performing from stage to film roles. Her acting style has been compared to those of Judy Garland and Audrey Hepburn. She cites Garland as one of her favorite actresses and Meryl Streep as her idol.