From an interview by Chelsea Handler with Anne Hathaway in Interview Magazine:
HANDLER: […] But I know you’re an Ayn Rand fan, right?
HATHAWAY: Yeah, I am.
HANDLER: What’s your favorite Ayn Rand book?
HATHAWAY: Atlas Shrugged.
HANDLER: Did you like that better than The Fountainhead?
HATHAWAY: I did. When I began Atlas Shrugged, I was really excited, because Ayn Rand said that The Fountainhead was the overture to Atlas Shrugged. I was like, “Ooh! What am I getting into?” Whether or not you agree with Ayn Rand-and I have certain issues with some of her beliefs-the woman can tell a story. I mean, the novel as an art form is just in full florid bloom in Atlas Shrugged. It’s an unbelievable story. The characters are so compelling, and what she’s saying is mind-expanding. I really enjoyed that book, and it was kind of prophetic. I read that book for the first time during the Bush Administration and I was like, “People are governing with their feelings as opposed to their intellect. This is happening.” And she wrote this how many years ago?
HANDLER: Not only that, but I think a book like The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged is kind of a way to look at leading your life with your professionalism permeated by your value system and your moral rectitude. You’re able to kind of see everything as one whole thing rather than kind of compartmentalizing different things in your life, and being morally bound to your personal life and not your professional life or vice-versa. When I read The Fountainhead, I was 17, and I thought, “I am never, ever going to have a book impact me this much.” And I don’t know that I’ve had one that did. That book definitely changed me for good, and I think the biggest compliment that you can say about any book is that it does that.
HATHAWAY: It’s so true. If you’re going to sum up both of those books, then I think what they say is don’t be a hypocrite.
HANDLER: Exactly.
HATHAWAY: And whatever you are made of, be the best of that.