Anne Hathaway has admitted many a time that her 2011 Oscars hosting gig with James Franco was an unmitigated disaster. But even Hathaway's overcompensating for Franco's comatose line reads may have been better in retrospect than what's going to happen at the 2019 Oscars. There's no host, and Hathaway's got jokes about it! She posted an Instagram shortly before the red carpet reminding everyone that no matter what happens on Sunday, nothing can be worse than her turn with Franco. "No matter what happens with today’s show, just remember, it’s already been worse. Happy Oscars!," Hathaway wrote alongside a photo of herself next to Franco looking — what else — like he didn't give a flying you-know-what to be hosting Hollywood's biggest night.
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The 2019 Oscars are still technically hostless after Kevin Hart stepped away from the gig due to past homophobic tweets. Finding a star willing to host the industry's biggest night should be easy, right? But as Anne Hathaway revealed to People's Jess Cagle, even she didn't want the gig when she was approached back in 2011.
"Hey, can I dish some tea?" she asked Cagle, who eagerly responded in the affirmative. "I turned that gig down and James [Franco] is the one that convinced me to do it."
Hathaway's dual hosting gig with Franco has gone down in history as a bit of a fail, with Franco's low energy making Hathaway's enthusiasm feel forced. Hathaway admits now that, "He didn’t give me anything."
To this day, Hathaway wonders if Franco had set her up for a prank, and she wishes she had just listened to her original instinct.
“When all the dust settled, I was just like, ‘You gotta be kidding me. Your first instinct is usually the right one.’ And all the reasons why I turned it down came true. All of them," she explained. "It’s just a no-win situation. You’re not trained at this, how is this going to enhance your life? All of the reasons why. Even the people who do it spectacularly well — like Hugh Jackman, Jimmy Kimmel, Ellen DeGeneres — usually just get a ‘meh’ from everyone. It’s a really hard gig to stick the landing on."
Don't everyone sign up for the open gig at once!