“We both kind of started playing these characters in this deep love relationship,” she said, “knowing that it was possible.”
That matters because The Odyssey asks audiences to believe in a love that survives absence, danger and one truly inefficient travel schedule. Hathaway’s point was simple: she did not have to imagine that kind of commitment from scratch.
Hathaway is expecting her third child
The premiere also doubled as a family milestone. Hathaway and Shulman, who married in 2012, are currently expecting their third child together. They are already parents to sons Jonathan, 10, and Jack, 6.
Speaking with E!, Hathaway joked about having the best accessory of the night while cradling her baby bump.
“Cannot be beat. This is a lovely microphone,” she said, “but I prefer my accessory.”
The baby news came as a surprise, even if Hathaway made clear that she and Shulman understood the basic mechanics involved.
“It’s amazing. We knew what we were doing,” she joked on the July 13 episode of Late Night With Seth Meyers, “but we were so shocked it worked.”
She added, “We were so shocked it went this way, so we’re calling this one our buzzer-beater.”
A relationship that began in 2008
Hathaway and Shulman first met at the Palm Springs Film Festival in 2008. In a 2013 interview with Harper’s Bazaar U.K., Hathaway said she knew almost immediately that he was the person she wanted to build a life with.
“I knew from the second I met him that he was the love of my life,” she said at the time.
Shulman, a producer and jewelry designer, has also been a steady presence during an unusually busy stretch in Hathaway’s career. In April, she told People that his support had been especially important during a year when she premiered five films in 2026: Mother Mary, The Devil Wears Prada 2, The End of Oak Street, Verity and The Odyssey.
“He supports me completely. This year in particular was unusual. He and I both know that it’s probably never going to happen like this again,” Hathaway said. “And the way he stepped up, I mean, in every possible way, he’s the most extraordinary person I’ve ever met.”
Why the premiere moment landed
Hathaway has usually kept her private life measured, so the premiere comments felt less like celebrity oversharing and more like a glimpse at how experience can shape a performance.
“I’m so lucky that he’s my partner that I spend my life with,” she told People. “If I didn’t know that before this past year, I think I really know it now because with absolutely everything he’s just, he’s on it. He holds it down. I hope that doesn’t sound like I’m bragging, but he’s a dream partner to me.”
For a film about waiting, loyalty and the emotional cost of separation, Hathaway’s remarks made clear what she brought to Penelope: not just classical training and a major studio costume budget, but a personal understanding of lasting partnership.
The Odyssey opens in theaters on July 17.
