The Princess Diaries
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Short description
Mia Thermopolis is a bright but socially awkward fifteen-year-old living in San Francisco with her single mother, an artist. Her life changes when her estranged father dies and she learns that he was the crown prince of Genovia, a small European country, which makes her its only heir. Her grandmother, Queen Clarisse Renaldi, arrives in California to tell Mia about her background and to give her lessons in etiquette and royal behaviour, hoping she will accept the throne. Mia is reluctant to give up her ordinary life, her best friend and her school, and she faces a difficult decision about her future.
The film was directed by Garry Marshall, the twelfth of the eighteen features he directed in chronological order, following The Other Sister and preceding Raising Helen, from a screenplay by Gina Wendkos. Anne Hathaway plays Mia, Julie Andrews plays Queen Clarisse, and Heather Matarazzo, Caroline Goodall, Héctor Elizondo and Robert Schwartzman appear in supporting roles.
Released in August 2001, the film cost about 37 million dollars and took in roughly 165 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 6.4 out of 10 from around 181,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 7 out of 10 from a much smaller electorate, and a critics' rating of 5.8 out of 10 from 117 reviews places it somewhat below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is based on Meg Cabot's novel "The Princess Diaries" (2000).
- The film was directed by Garry Marshall. Debra Martin Chase and Whitney Houston served as producers. Anne Hathaway was cast as Mia because Marshall's daughters saw her on a videotape and said she had the best hair for a princess.
- Hector Elizondo, who appears in all of Marshall's films, plays Joseph, the bodyguard. His daughter, Kathleen Marshall, plays Queen Charlotte's secretary, Charlotte Kutaway, whose last name is only mentioned in the credits.
- The plot of the book takes place in New York, but in the film it was moved to San Francisco because Marshall's granddaughters live there.
- According to Anne Hathaway, Liv Tyler was initially supposed to play Mia Thermopolis, but the producers then decided it was better to use faces unfamiliar to the audience. Over 500 actresses auditioned for the lead role.
- The sequel, "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement," was released in August 2004.
- Garry Marshall’s granddaughters watched audition tapes of actresses for the role of Mia. They advised their grandfather to choose Anne Hathaway because her hair resembled a princess’s.
- The scene in which the main character, played by Anne Hathaway, slips on the bleachers and falls was not in the script. The actress actually slipped on the wet surface and fell, and director Garry Marshall decided to keep the take in the film.
- When the main character accidentally sets her neighbor's sleeve on fire, it was supposed to be extinguished when he dipped his hand into a bucket of ice, but the flame didn't go out. Anne Hathaway was frightened and poured the contents of her glass over the man's sleeve, which was also not in the script.
- Garry Marshall added the scene with the retainer (an orthodontic device for maintaining the results of bite correction or teeth alignment) to the film after learning that Anne Hathaway wore a retainer as a child, but found it difficult to speak with it in. The actress brought her own retainer to the set.
- Anne Hathaway wore a hairpiece on set to make her hair look fuller and thicker. The entire film crew and all the actors involved in the film called this hairpiece "the beast." Before applying makeup and prosthetics, they glued on her eyebrows, attaching each hair individually.
- The jewelry and tiara with genuine diamonds worn by Julie Andrews in the final part of the film cost $500,000. Anne Hathaway’s tiara was made specifically for the actress from cubic zirconia (a lab-created material consisting of zirconium dioxide).
- Before filming, Anne Hathaway took rock climbing lessons.
- Hector Elizondo spent several hours throwing a ball into a basketball hoop on a rainy court, while the scene in the film lasts only a few seconds.
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