Anne Hathaway credits her parents with inspiring her acting ambitions at an early age - because they never prevented her from playing out her childhood fantasies.
Hathaway grew up in New Jersey as the daughter of Kate MCCauley, an actress who toured in a production of Les Miserables.
And The Devil Wears Prada star admits her parents' emphasis on creativity encouraged her to perform.
She tells Britain's GQ magazine, "We were focused on theatre. I never dreamt about being a star or having my name up in lights. Creativity was encouraged in our family household, embraced even. I would walk around singing all day, doing scenes, pretending all day long. My two brothers loved that. My parents never said, 'Pipe down!' or 'Quit that racket!'"
But the 27 year old insists she never longed to be a famous Hollywood star.
She adds, "I never had particularly romantic feelings about acting. My mother helped with that. I saw it as a job. An option."