Anne Hathaway (as Jane Austen? Maybe?) on set.

Anne Hathaway has defended her casting as celebrated English author Jane Austen in upcoming movie “Becoming Jane,” insisting she knows the writer inside out. The star has been cited as an unsuitable choice to play Austen, who died in 1817, in literary circles because she "doesn't possess the right sensibilities." But Hathaway - who is a huge fan of Austen disagrees: "I know there are a lot of people out there that are horrified that the girl from the Princess Diaries is playing Jane Austen. I don't blame them, but I love her as much as any of the biggest fans so I don't want to go in there and mess it up. I've been reading her since I was 14 and in reading her, I know who she is. I have a handle on her spirit. And I'm learning to play the piano." The British-made film will tell the story of Austen's doomed love for Irish lawyer Tom LeFroy, played by James McAvoy, which floundered because LeFroy's financial prospects were unacceptable to Austen's family. And the 23-year-old insists many people are wrong for seeing Austen as a lonely character inexperienced in love. "We always think of Jane Austen as this woman who was a spinster, but she had this love affair which was one of the key relationships in her life. It awakened her sexuality and inspired a lot of relationships she later wrote about in her novels," she explained. [Starpulse]