Hathaway was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Gerald Hathaway, a lawyer, and Kate McCauley, an actress who inspired Hathaway to follow in her footsteps. The family moved to Millburn, New Jersey, when she was six years old.[8] She has an older brother, Michael, and a younger brother, Thomas. Hathaway has mainly Irish and French ancestry, with more distant German and Native American roots.