Anne Hathaway has opened up about her struggle with fame and how she has learned to deal with living in the spotlight.

"The fame thing? F**ked me up for a really long time," the 31-year-old actress said in an interview with Elle UK. "I didn't know how to do it; I didn't know how to engage with it; it stressed me out. And people would say, 'You just have to be yourself,' and I was like, 'But I don't know who that is yet!'"

"The thing I’ve learned this past year is to chill out," she continued. "I think when you’re young and struggling to find yourself, there’s something alluring about the idea of being tortured."

"Life for me these days is a lot about letting the unknown be wonderful, and letting myself feel safe."

In 2012, Hathaway was firmly placed in the spotlight having famously shaved her head for the role as Fantine in Les Misérables the film adaptation of the hit-musical (for which she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar and Golden Globe for), reinventing Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, and playing the lead female role in One Day based on the bestselling book of the same name.

However, following her Golden Globes acceptance speech - in which she said, "Thank you for this lovely blunt object that I will forevermore use as a weapon against self-doubt" - and a parody video of the scene in which she cuts her hair in Les Misérables, she faced an onslaught of criticism by the public who labelled themselves 'Hathahaters'.

Speaking about the public's perception, the star added, "I've realised that don't need validation from anybody. At all. I'm not sitting here now worrying, 'What do you think of me?' With all due respect, you seem like a lovely lady, but I don't need you, or anyone else, to like me. And that's so liberating. It's a big reveal, man."

Anne Hathaway with her actor husband Adam Shulman and new pet puppy in New York

The actress went on to discuss her marriage to actor Adam Shulman, her husband of two years.

"The first year of my marriage was insane," she said. "So much happened so fast, and we didn't get to focus on just being married until about a year in. So now, it's just about letting myself feel safe," Hathaway explained.

"There was a part of me that I was keeping in reserve, and when I got married, something shifted…That question of, "How long’s this gonna last?" is off the table. And when you’re not worried about that, there’s space to just be silly."

Anne Hathaway stars on the November cover of Elle UK.

Images: Rex Features, Elle