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Anne Hathaway Opens Up About Marriage: 'I Need My Husband'

By Jackie Willis
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Anne Hathaway has been married for nearly four years to husband Adam Shulman and she still talks like a newlywed.

"He changed my ability to be in the world comfortably," 34-year-old actress says in the April issue of Elle magazine.

Hathaway -- who welcomed a son, Jonathan, last March with Shulman -- admits that she doesn't know what she'd do without him. "I think the accepted narrative now is that we, as women, don’t need anybody. But I need my husband," she confesses. "His unique and specific love has changed me.”


WATCH: Anne Hathaway Shares Rare Photo of Son Jonathan -- and He's Beyond Adorable

The Oscar winner also shares how being a mom spurred her desire to become the UN Goodwill Ambassador to advocate for paid parental leave in the U.S. “I can’t believe we don’t already have it,” she notes. “When [my son] Johnny was a week old and I was holding him and I was in the ninth level of ecstasy, I just all of a sudden thought, ‘Mommy guilt is invented nonsense.’ We’re encouraged to judge each other, but we should be turning our focus to the people and institutions who should be supporting us and currently aren’t.”

"Hollywood is not a place of equality. I don't say that with anger or judgment; it's a statistical fact. And even though I've been in some female-centric films, I've never been in a film like [Ocean's Eight]. It just kind of makes you aware of the ways you sort of unconsciously change yourself to fit certain scenarios. It's not better or worse...or right or wrong, but there are certain things you understand about one another because of experiences you have in common…it's probably easy for men to take that for granted. Just being on a set where I'm the one who possesses that ease is really something. It's a nice alternative narrative." -@annehathaway. For more from our cover star, click the link in our bio. Photo by @terrytsiolis, styled by @samiranasr. Tap for outfit credits.

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Hathaway says she felt encouraged when working on the nearly all-female set of Ocean's Eightrecently, acknowledging how uncommon this scenario can be in the movie business. “Hollywood is not a place of equality. I don’t say that with anger or judgment; it’s a statistical fact," she explains. "And even though I’ve been in some female-centric films, I’ve never been in a film like this. It just kind of makes you aware of the ways you sort of unconsciously change yourself to fit certain scenarios."


WATCH: Ocean's 8 First Look! See Sandra Bullock, Rihanna and the Rest of the Crew in Action

"It’s not better or worse or right or wrong, but there are certain things you understand about one another because of experiences you have in common," the actress goes on to clarify. "It’s probably easy for men to take that for granted. Just being on a set where I’m the one who possesses that ease is really something. It’s a nice alternative narrative.”

Ocean's Eight was Hathaway's first film back after giving birth to Jonathan, and she shared with ET that she was seeking out parenting tips from her co-stars, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter and Sandra Bullock. "Oh my god, I have so many questions," she exclaimed. "I get to work with women who have done it before and I get to ask them questions about that."