Hathaway: Oscar hosting was seen as 'massive failure'

Anne Hathaway has spoken about her performance as co-host of last year's Oscars.

The 'Dark Knight Rises' star took on the role with James Franco, but critics took apart their performances on the night.

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Speaking about the night to the Hollywood Reporter, she said: “I went into it with a lot of trust and a lot of hope, and I had a blast doing it.

“What I realised afterwards, and this is just inexperience and quite a bit of naiveté, I played to the house. My background is in theatre and I played to the house, shooting energy to the back of [the theatre].

“It looked slightly manic and hyper cheerleader-ey on screen. I have no regrets about doing it. Whether or not it was an actual failure, it was perceived as a massive failure.”

The press was almost unanimous in its criticism of both the presenting and the interlude skits performed by Hathaway and Franco, though Franco largely came out worse.

The New York Times wrote that 'their prolonged effort to pander to younger viewers was downright painful at times', while USA Today said 'at least Hathaway was in there pitching throughout - unlike her co-host, who sometimes seemed to be preparing for a remake of Dazed and Confused'.

This year the show is being presented by 'Family Guy' creator Seth MacFarlane.