Washington, Aug 25 (ANI): American actress Anne Hathaway has revealed that when she was no longer able to cope with fame, she escaped the limelight by studying for a degree.

Hathaway, 25, had shot to fame in 2001 after she appeared in the Disney hit The Princess Diaries, which was followed by her role in Ella Enchanted in 2004.

However, the Get Smart star found all the attention that she was getting from the media difficult to handle at such a young age, and her personal life suffered because of it.

She was prompted to take time out from the spotlight to attend New York University.

“I was a mess in some ways and that had nothing to do with my choice of career, Contactmusic quoted her as saying.

“I was the luckiest girl in the world when I got the Princess Diaries films, but all the driven behaviour that you need to be successful as a teenager didn”t help me when it came to my private life and social situations.

“So going to university helped me a lot. I used to worry too much and take myself too seriously,” she added. (ANI)