Anne Hathaway's Faux Pixie Is The Shortest Style She’s Worn In Over A Decade

What transcends a celebrity into A-list status? The major requirement is the ability to regularly transform oneself from one extreme to the next for any given film role. One scan at Anne Hathaway’s IMDB page is certainly enough proof that the actor meets the criteria. Her biggest — and in some cases award-winning — acting gigs have involved her undergoing physical changes to properly get into character. The makeover montage scene from The Princess Diaries, a shaved head in Les Misérables, and a blonde bob wig in Eileen, are a few famous examples. But Hathaway is also game to experiment off-screen, too, whether it’s adding a pair of on-trend, eye-grazing bangs to her signature long chocolate brown hair or temporarily trying extreme looks for photoshoots. Case in point: Hathaway’s pixie cut on the April 2024 cover of Vanity Fair.

In the shoot, Hathaway channels a film noir star with smoked-out kohl-rimmed eyes and deep nearly-black oxblood lipstick by celebrity makeup artist, Gucci Westman and a glamorous sculpted pixie created by celebrity hairstylist Orlando Pita. The short cut features tapered sides and longer top layers for added volume. While the pompadour style is convincing enough to be the real deal, Pita likely achieved the effect by pulling the actor’s hair back into a very tight French twist.

Head on, it appears that The Idea of You star’s hair is indeed short, but in the video interviews that accompany Hathaway’s cover, you can see that the actor didn’t actually chop off all her hair — the look is simply the result of having a top hairstylist on speed dial.

This faux pixie might be the shortest dramatic, albeit, temporary length she’s had in recent memory, but it’s certainly not the first time she’s had a pixie. After buzzing her hair off to play Fantine in the 2012 film rendition of the blockbuster musical based on Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name, Hathaway wore various versions of the cut as her hair grew out. Perhaps, most notably, a style with long layers and swoopy side bangs, as seen at the 2013 Oscars, where she took home the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Les Mis.

Along with bobs, pixies are having a moment in 2024. If you’re tempted by all of celebs who’ve gone short but aren’t entirely sold on fully committing to the look, why not take a cue from Hathaway and fake it for a bit? It’s like buying a car without test-driving it first — you wouldn’t.