Anne Hathaway Recalls Rising to Stardom With Breakout Movie ‘The Princess Diaries’ — ‘I Got Very, Very, Very Famous’

Oscar winner Anne Hathaway got to live every girl’s dream when she played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries alongside beloved Hollywood icon Julie Andrews. Now, 15 years after the movie’s sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement premiered in theaters, the 36-year-old star has opened up about making the rom-com that made her a star and working with Julie, 83.

“Getting the script, it just had that feeling,” Anne gushed to People. “I touched it, and it was electric.” The movie’s plot was not the only thing that attracted Anne to the fun flick — it would also allow her to work with Garry Marshall, the man who directed one of her favorite films, Pretty Woman.

“Pretty Woman [was] my favorite movie growing up,” Anne gushed. And when she auditioned in front of Garry — who sadly died at age 81 in July 2016 — for The Princess Diaries, the starlet recalled the excitement she felt. “I get to meet the director of that, how extraordinary,” she remembered telling herself. “[I thought], ‘Oh my God, he’s also from that movie Soapdish that I love.’”

After Princess Diaries hit theaters in 2001, Anne, basically, shot to stardom. “I got very, very, very famous,” Anne said, adding that she became “a superstar to 6-year-olds” everywhere.