Dame Julie Andrews has been speaking to Vanity Fair about her legendary career – which of course includes classic musicals Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. She also discusses the 2000s rom-coms The Princess Dairies and its sequel, which she co-starred in with Anne Hathaway. Andrews says she always knew that Hathaway would be a star.
“Later in my career, I made two films – Princess Diaries 1 and Princess Diaries 2. And this lovely, young, talented actress starred in both of them – Anne Hathaway. It was clear from the very first day of shooting that she was going to be a star. She was incredibly talented, her instincts were so true. She was very, very beautiful and just a lovely human being. It was great fun to watch her learning and growing and I think I was probably a bit of Mum to her too. We’re great friends.”
Coincidentally, Anne Hathaway would go onto win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing a mostly-singing role in a musical – in 2012’s Les Miserables. Hathaway followed 2004’s Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement with Brokeback Mountain, then The Devil Wears Prada.
Hathaway has appeared in a diverse range of movies in the last decade including Nancy Meyers’ The Intern alongside Robert De Niro, vastly underseen (but brilliant) kaiju movie Colossal, Ocean’s Eleven sequel Ocean’s Eight, and the 2020 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. She has certainly fulfilled Julie Andrews’ prophecy that she would become a star.
Julie Andrews is now 86 years old, but remains busy with voiceover work. She played the voice of Karathen in Aquaman, she narrates Bridgerton as the voice of the mysterious Lady Whistledown, and she play Gru’s mother in the Despicable Me franchise.
If you’re a Princess Diaries fan, check out our guide to the best teen movies.