Anne Hathaway became a household name when she made her feature film debut with The Princess Diaries. The film saw her play a teenager who discovers that she is a heiress to the throne of a European monarchy. The Disney film was a huge success at the box office, earning $165 million globally. The success of the film led to a sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.
The sequel saw Wonder Woman star Chris Pine make his film debut and enjoy worldwide fame. Pine was reportedly struggling to make it as an actor and owed his parents money when he got the call that he was in the movie. Pine mentioned that the salary he was paid for the film was so huge for him at the time that he felt like the Earth shattered.
Chris Pine Was Flat Broke When He Got The Role In The Princess Diaries 2
The Disney film franchise The Princess Diaries notably revived and created the careers of many actors involved. The coming-of-age comedy film series saw Anne Hathaway as a shy teenager who gets to know that she is the royal heiress in Europe. She trains to take over the kingdom and claim her title under the tutelage of the reigning queen, her grandmother, played by Julie Andrews.
Hathaway was reportedly selected over dozens of actresses, including Kristen Dunst, Reese Witherspoon, Alicia Silverstone, Eva Mendes, Live Tyler, and more. Hathaway had only appeared in the canceled TV series Get Real at the time. Veteran actress Julie Andrews also revived her career with The Princess Diaries.
After the mammoth success of the original, both Andrews and Hathaway returned to the sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. The film saw the debut of Chris Pine, who was a struggling actor at the time. Pine recently recounted his financial situation when he got the call that he had gotten the job. He said on the show Sunday Today with Willie Geist,
“I had an overdraft of my bank account. I was $400 over. I was going to have to ask my parents for money…I just remembered distinctly knowing at that moment that my life had changed somehow.”
The actor played the role of Nicholas Deveraux, the potential suitor to Anne Hathaway’s Mia Thermopolis, as she gears up to take over as Queen.
Chris Pine and Anne Hathaway Had Huge Salary Difference
Chris Pine mentioned that the offer for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement was life-changing for him as he was at a terrible place financially at the time. While he had an overdraft of $400 and was about to ask his parents for rent money, he was reportedly offered $65,000 for his role as Nicholas Deveraux in The Princess Diaries 2.
Pine mentioned to Sunday. Today, how he felt when he heard the offer and how it changed everything for him,
“I got a call from my agents that I booked the job. I pulled over onto the side of the freeway and they said, ‘You’re getting paid $65,000,’ and it was like they had just told me I’d made $50 million. It was absolutely earth-shattering.”
While the Wonder Woman star made a huge killing in his very first gig, his salary was much lesser compared to Anne Hathaway’s at the time. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Hathaway earned a whopping $400,000 for her feature film debut, The Princess Diaries, and her salary only increased from there. She reportedly raked in $1 million for her other roles, such as The Devil Wears Prada.
Her latest film, The Idea of You, saw her also co-produce the romantic comedy. Still, the actress reportedly raked in a whopping paycheck of $7 million (via Spoiler). In 2015, the actress was named one of the highest-paid actresses in the world by Forbes. Chris Pine mentioned that he ended up only getting paid $15,000 for his role in The Princess Diaries 2 (via Sunday Today with Willie Geist).
The Princess Diaries is streaming on Disney Plus.
