Anne Hathaway, 43, says she stopped being a 'stressed person' for her kids — and everyone around her

• Anne Hathaway, 43, says she made a conscious decision not to live life as a "stressed person."
• "You can't have a good time at a party if the hostess is stressed or she's letting her stress show," she said.
• "The Devil Wears Prada" star said she no longer aims to balance it all, choosing to think in terms of "harmony" instead.

Anne Hathaway, 43, says she decided not to go through life feeling stressed all the time.

The actor said she's been rethinking the way she handles pressure, particularly while leading "The Devil Wears Prada" sequel.

"You can't have a good time at a party if the hostess is stressed or she's letting her stress show," Hathaway told Harper's Bazaar.

"I just decided that it wasn't fair for me to move through my life as a stressed person. I don't want my kids to be around it, I don't want my friends to be around it, I don't want strangers to be around it, I don't want people I work with to be around it," she said.

Hathaway said she's "done a lot of work" to process everything coming her way differently, so it feels exciting rather than overwhelming.

She added that she sees her career in two phases: an earlier chapter that left little room for anything outside work, and a second chapter shaped by parenthood, sobriety, and being more present.

"Before, there was this focus that was really uncompromising and uninterrupted," she said. "And I just can't tell you anymore what life is like without kids, but kids interrupt you all the time."

That's why she no longer tries to keep everything perfectly in sync, she said.

"My friends and I talk about it a lot, and we actually feel very defeated by the concept of balance," Hathaway said. "If the weight shifts in one direction, you then have to bounce it up on the other side, and we find that it winds us up as opposed to making us steady."

Instead, she said, "We're like, 'We seek to harmonize our life.'"

Hathaway isn't the only high-profile parent rethinking how to deal with stress.

Reese Witherspoon has said raising her older children taught her what's not worth stressing over as she parents her youngest.

"I've been parenting for 25 years. I also feel very comfortable that I know the little things that aren't as important. Like I had a friend say, 'I'm not there for pickup. And is that OK?' Absolutely. You know, you can't be at every soccer game, every morning meeting, pick up, drop off, make the lunch, do the volunteer stuff," Witherspoon said.

"Grey's Anatomy" star Camilla Luddington has said that juggling work and kids doesn't come with a sense of balance.

"To take the pressure off, I'll be like, 'You know what? Today I'm probably going to be better at my job than I am at parenting because I'm on set all day. But tomorrow I'm off and I can be a better parent,'" Luddington said. "Letting go of that need to be perfectly balanced all the time has been very freeing for me."