Ready to feel old? The Princess Diaries has just turned 20 years old this summer. The passage of time is freaking us out (seriously, wasn't 2001, like, yesterday?), but that doesn't mean we aren't celebrating the special anniversary just like everyone else on the internet. Anne Hathaway stars as Mia Thermopolis, a nerdy, unremarkable teen whose life turns upside down when she finds out that her deceased father had royal blood, making her a princess. Her grandmother, the regal and elegant Queen Clarisse Renaldi, tasked with initiating Mia into royal life, is played by Julie Andrews (exquisitely, we might add).
They make a fantastic onscreen pair and the movie is a feel-good hit that appeals to adults and youngsters alike. Its sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is similarly beloved, so it's no wonder fans are lighting up about the 20th anniversary. To celebrate, we took a look at everything Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews have said about the movie.
8 Anne Hathaway Knew It Would Be A Hit
“Getting the script, it just had that feeling,” Anne Hathaway said during a recent interview. “I touched it, and it was electric.” The film's director, Garry Marshall, wasn't so sure, though. He reportedly told Anne that you can never tell whether a movie will be a hit or not, and the only thing you have control over is the memories you make on the set. "So let's make some memories," he said.
7 Julie Andrews Invented Many Of The Details About Genovia
Julie Andrews recalls how much fun it was to invent some of the finer details about the fictional country of Genovia and Queen Clarisse Renaldi and she was delighted that Garry Marshall let her be so inventive. He reportedly asked her what she thought Genovia's main export should be, and she decided that Genovia would grow beautiful pears. "Making it all up on the spur of the moment, I said, 'Well I think they'd grow beautiful pears ... and the nuns would probably make lace.' Well, we had pears all over the set, and lace all over the place as well."
6 Anne Hathaway Always Wanted To Work With Garry Marshall
The Oscar winner wasn't a star at the time; The Princess Diaries was actually her very first feature length film. So she was starstruck pretty easily and remembers "freaking out" when she met director Garry Marshall during auditions. “Pretty Woman was my favorite movie growing up,” she says. She explained that she was thinking: “I get to meet the director of that, how extraordinary. Oh my God, he’s also from that movie Soapdish that I love.”
5 Both Have Commented On The Possibility Of A Third 'Princess Diaries' Movie
Following the massive success of The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, fans have naturally pressed the stars for any word on the possibility of a third movie in the series. As recently as spring of 2020, Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews have commented on the idea. "It’s as important to us as it is to you, and we don’t want to deliver anything until it’s ready, but we’re working on it," Anne Hathaway told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live. It’s just we don’t want to unless it’s perfect because we love it just as much as you guys love it." Julie Andrews confirms that she would do it again if the opportunity arose, but explains: "I’m getting awfully old and crotchety. I’m not sure if it’s the right timing, but I think to work with Annie would be lovely again."
4 Anne Hathaway Called Working With Julie Andrews 'Magical'
What little girl didn't idolize Julie Andrews growing up? Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music were staples in many homes, and Anne Hathaway's was no different. She said that starring opposite Julie Andrews was "a dream come true." "Getting to make it and be on set every day, I got to hug Julie Andrews every day," she says. “That part was also very, very, very magical. Then it came out and it was received. That part even, by the way, was magical.”
3 Both Actresses Are Grateful They Got To Have Creative Input
Anne Hathaway said Garry Marshall allowed the actors to have plenty of creative input. She had a hand in creating the broken-hairbrush scene and the pore strip her character wears in the movie. And the scene where she slips and falls on bleachers? That was her doing too. Julie Andrews says she got to make her character, the Queen of Genovia, more reflective of her real-life personality, which made it even more of a delight to work on.
2 Anne Hathaway Feels Like She Won The Lottery
Anne Hathaway has joked that The Princess Diaries turned her into “a superstar to six-year-olds.” In a recent tweet commemorating the 20th anniversary of the film, she wrote: "Miracles happen… Happy 20th Birthday to #theprincessdiaries, AKA the film that launched a thousand sleep overs 👑. " "I live my life as if I’ve won the lottery,” Hathaway once said in an interview. “Not as though I was famous.”
1 Anne Hathaway Insists Her Clumsiness Got Her The Role
Anne Hathaway credits her clumsiness with helping her land the role of Mia, her first film role. She remembers that she fell off of her chair during the audition, and that sealed the deal. I think that’s what he was most impressed with," Hathaway remembers. She thinks that endeared her to Garry Marshall. She got the role after just one audition!