The lead-up to this year's Oscar awards has been unusually bumpy.
Original host Kevin Hart dropped out as he battled a homophobia scandal, key awards were pulled from the telecast — then reinstated after an uproar, the awards buzz for Bohemian Rhapsody has been dampened by sexual assault allegations againstdirector Bryan Singer.
You'd be forgiven for suspecting today's ceremony might be a bit of a trainwreck. Thanks to Anne Hathaway, then, for providing a bit of perspective.
She should know — she was in the eye of the storm. Hathaway and James Franco hosted the Oscars in 2011, a hosting gig that's lived on in infamy as one of the worst efforts in Academy Awards history.
Their ill-conceived coupling was widely considered to be a trainwreck, with Franco later admitting he regretted it and felt trapped by the show.
Hathaway recently revealed that she initially turned down the offer to host the show.
"I turned that gig down and James (Franco) is the one that convinced me to do it," she revealed to People last month.
Oscars viewers considered Hathaway made the best of a mismatched pairing — Franco's low-energy vibe contrasting poorly with her chipper enthusiasm on stage.
"He didn't give me anything," she told People.
"God, I just remember the night before we're about to go up there, and me turning to everyone and going, 'Am I too much? This feels really big to me.'
"And the producer just went, 'No! Don't do less. Do more if you need to.' And I was like, 'Oh okay, I guess it's going great.' And I didn't realise what was happening about that whole thing."
