Anne Hathaway Focused on Her Character’s ‘Psychological Torture’ to Do ‘The Princess Diaries’
Actor Anne Hathaway got one of her breakthrough roles starring in the hit film The Princess Diaries. But playing a princess wasn’t initially what Hathaway had in mind for her career. So to get through the film, she focused on deeper aspects of her character.
How Anne Hathaway got into her ‘Princess Diaries’ character despite not wanting to be a princess
Hathaway has always looked back at her time in The Princess Diaries fondly. Initially, there were other young actors being seen for the role.
“I was cleaning out my garage recently and found the master list of who we auditioned for Mia. Scarlett Johansson was on the list, January Jones. We saw everybody,” producer Debra Martin Chase once said in an interview with Cosmopolitan.
But by the time Hathaway tested for the role, everyone agreed that she was perfect for the movie’s central character.
“I only had one audition for it,” Hathaway once told Entertainment Tonight.
After Hathaway learned she’d gotten the part, the Oscar-winner was more than thrilled.
“I was woken up by the call that I got it, and I was so happy because I really wanted this role. It was really a dream come true,” she said.
Still, playing a princess was something Hathaway never thought she’d do. Even on set, the actor wasn’t accustomed to channeling royalty. So, she focused on other darker aspects of her character that made it more accessible.
“I never wanted to be a princess, so I was focused on my character’s psychological torture, at that time. She had to accept an identity that she wasn’t ready for. I missed the point,” she said in a past interview with Collider.
Anne Hathaway once shared she was ready to stop playing princesses to pursue Oscar caliber roles
The Princess Diaries wasn’t the last time Hathaway would play a princess. The actor would reprise her role as Mia in The Princess Diaries 2. She also quickly portrayed another princess in the feature Ella Enchanted. This gave Hathaway a reputation of playing princesses in movies to the public, which she was already very aware of. Although she noted there were subtle differences between her Princess Diaries and Ella Enchanted characters.
“Well, considering that it runs through all 2 of my films, no I’m not that concerned about it. I knew that people would kind of raise their eyebrows if I took on yet another fairy tale, but I thought this one was so different from Princess Diaries in that Princess Diaries kind of embraces the fact that it is a fairy tale. Ella makes fun of itself because of it,” Hathaway once said according to LiveAbout.
However, Hathaway wasn’t going to typecast herself in the Princess role forever. She knew there would come a time for her to explore more substantial roles.
“But in terms of the princess role, there is only so long that you can play those as a young lady before you start feeling really ridiculous. They are so much fun to do, I figure I might as well get the most out of them while I can. Then [I’ll] go off and play all the drug addicts and the prostitutes, and all the good ones you win Oscars for a little bit later on. But now I am, yes, ready to hang up the tiara [and] put the ball gown in storage,” she said.
Ironically, she’d later win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for playing a sex worker in Les Misérables.
Why Anne Hathaway was reluctant to do ‘The Princess Diaries 2’
Reprising her role as a princess wasn’t an easy decision. Despite enjoying her time on the first Princess Diaries, she wasn’t sure that a sequel was the best move.
“I was very hesitant and nervous about doing the sequel. Not because it was the sequel to the Princess Diaries, but just because I think sequels, in general, are such difficult waters to navigate. It took a lot to convince me that it was going to be okay,” she said.
The film’s director, Garry Marshall, was who inspired her confidence in the project.
“I credit most of that to Garry Marshall who held my hand through it and said, ‘It’s ok, this won’t end anything. You’re not repeating anything. You’re giving a fresh performance. It’s all right, it’s all right. People care about me,’” Hathaway said. “But eventually yes, it was Garry sitting me down saying, ‘Do you understand how happy this will make people, like little girls across the world?’ He goes, ‘It’s an extraordinary possibility that you have here to make people happy and you should really embrace that.’ When it was put to me in that way I was like, ‘Ok, it’s just ego getting in the way.’”
