Anne Hathaway is crowned the queen of setting personal boundaries with fans thanks to one viral clip

A clip of Anne Hathaway appearing to interact with fans wanting a photo has gone viral as people praise her gentle approach to protecting personal space.

• A clip of Anne Hathaway appearing to interact with fans wanting a photo has gone viral.
• While there's no audio, a lip reader said she was asking fans to respect her space.
• Viewers praised her approach, even comparing it to a popular parenting technique.

Fans have fallen in love with the way they think Anne Hathaway dealt with people who wanted photos with her in a now-viral clip.

The footage shows the actor getting out of a car onto a street and appearing to speak directly to a group of people, presumably fans.

Hathaway's voice can't be heard on the clip, but one TikTok poster, a Deaf creator who was a contestant on the Netflix series "Squid Game: The Challenge," attempted to read her lips as part of a series she's doing with celebrity clips.

"Do not move please. Just, just a moment. Please stay where you are. I'll come to you. Is that OK? We are not going to push. This is very calm. Thank you so much," said Gonzalez, reading Hathaway's lips.

It's unclear where the clip of Hathaway originally came from, although it was previously uploaded to TikTok on December 5 by a user called @scottish969, receiving 16 million views. The Independent reported that it was filmed after Hathaway attended the 2023 British Fashion Awards on December 4, where she was photographed in the same outfit on her way to an afterparty, per Harper's Bazaar.

Though Hathaway's voice isn't audible in the clip and there was no lip-reading in the previous video, commenters seemed to believe from her body language that the actor was setting boundaries with the people around her.

Gonzalez' video, shared on January 18, received 20.3 million views, and won Hathaway more praise for the way she seemingly handled the interaction.

"Honestly I love that. She set a boundary respectfully but sternly. Queen," one user wrote.

"She's amazing the way she takes complete control over the situation… I love her❤️❤️❤️," another user wrote.

Some suggested Hathaway's behavior was regal, making specific references to her role in the "The Princess Diaries," a 2001 film which sees Hathaway starring as an ordinary teenage girl who finds out she belongs to a royal family and is forced to learn the appropriate etiquette.

A handful of users also jokingly compared Hathaway's approach to gentle parenting, a viral parenting technique that focuses on communication with children to create an emotionally stable environment while also setting boundaries and employing high levels of discipline.

Hathaway, like a "gentle parenting" TikTok creator, appears to use calm and direct conversation with the people in the clip to set a personal space boundary with them.

Celebrities often go hugely viral on TikTok after being filmed interacting with fans. Robert Irwin, son of Steve "The Crocodile Hunter" Irwin, was complimented for his kindness when a fan filmed herself asking for his phone number in 2022. That same year, "Stranger Things" actor Joseph Quinn warmed fans' hearts when he teared up after receiving praise from a fan at the London Film and Comic Con.

After her breakout role in "The Princess Diaries," Hathaway went on to star in other children and family movies like "Ella Enchanted" and "Hoodwinked," in which she was a voice actor for the lead role. She has since starred in hits such as "Interstellar" and "Bride Wars."

Hathaway, now 41, previously said she was told her career in acting would end at 35, something she said a lot of women in the industry face.

"The thing that has evolved during [that time] is that more women are having careers deeper into their lives, which I think is fantastic," she said in an interview with Porter Magazine published in November.