If you don’t love the magical 2001 film that launched Anne Hathaway into super-stardom, then we really don’t know what to say to you. Here are 17 things you never knew about The Princess Diaries.
1. Anne Hathaway’s role as Mia Thermopolis was her first film EVER.
Anne snagged the role in one audition.
2. The late legendary Whitney Houston was one of the executive producers of the film!
She truly was a fairy godmother.
3. The film was originally supposed to be set in NYC.
And it was going to be called The Princess of Tribeca.
4. Though she impressed the casting agent, Anne also fell off of her chair during the audition.
They probably knew right then that she was the prefect Mia.
5. The man who plays Mia’s deceased father is Anne’s dad IRL.
Her real-life mom played the choir director in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.
6. That bushy brunette mane and those brows did not belong to Anne Hathaway.
The actress wore a wig and fake eyebrows in order to play Mia.
7. When Mia breaks a glass at a fancy dinner a waiter, played by Alan Kent tells her, “It happens all the time.”
He says that exact same line in Pretty Woman.
8. Oh and Garry Marshall who directed The Princess Diaries also directed, Pretty Woman.
He obviously loves strong female leads.
9. Hector Elizondo who plays Joe, Mia’s bodyguard and the Queen’s bae has appeared in every single one of Gary Marshall’s movies.
According to IMDB he’s even slated to star in the Marshall’s most recent film, Mother’s Day.
10. You can actually play those vintage arcade games that were in the film.
They are located at the Musee Mecanique on Pier 45 in San Francisco.
11. Then San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown played himself in the film.
He was at the Genovian ball.
12. The text on the Genovian crest is incorrect.
It reads “Totus Corpus Laborat” instead of “Totum Corpus Laborat”. It means, “The whole body works.”
13. The film was shot on the same lot as Mary Poppins.
Julie Andrews starred in that film 37-years prior to The Princess Diaries.
14. Mia tripping on the bleachers was actually an accident.
However, it worked out so perfectly that Marshall kept it in the film.
15. When Robert Schwartzman who played Michael turned down The Princess Diaries 2, Chris Pine snagged the male lead.
It was Pine’s first major film role.
16. After The Princess Diaries, Anne Hathaway struggled for a bit to be taken seriously as an actress.
She told The Huffington Post, “It was so cool in so many ways because it was a great first job—it was a big hit—but at the same time…It was hard to get into rooms to be taken seriously for roles that weren’t princesses, so I think partially that was why I’ve tried to have as big a range as I have.”
17. Only Queen Julie had the real jewels.
Julie Andrews crown was on loan from Harry Winston and cost $500,000 while Anne Hathaway’s tiara was made from mostly from cubic zirconia. It was still cute though.
The Princess Diaries 3 anyone?
