Related Resources • "Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" Photos, Credits and Trailer • Anne Hathaway Interviews, Movies and Photos

The Disney romantic comedy, "Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement," is the 2004 follow-up to the 2001 surprise hit, "The Princess Diaries." Anne Hathaway dons her princess attire again for this sequel, which finds Hathaway as 'Mia' taking over the job of being Queen of Genovia. Not only must Mia assume the throne, Genovian law dictates Mia has to get married before she becomes Queen.

In the first movie, Anne Hathaway's Mia was a gawky teen who didn't fit in at school. In this sequel set five years later, Mia's a more mature young woman who has just finished college and is ready for the next phase of her life. Playing Mia in the sequel afforded Anne Hathaway the chance to show the princess as more self-assured and confident. It also gave Hathaway the chance to reunite with "The Princess Diaries" director Garry Marshall and co-stars Julie Andrews, Hector Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, and Caroline Goodall.

INTERVIEW WITH ANNE HATHAWAY ('Mia'):

How'd you feel about coming back to this character?
Candidly, initially I was very nervous because the idea of doing a film… A lot of sequels are done purely to make money. The idea of doing a film just for that reason really kind of felt icky to me. And that's not why I started [all this]. I certainly didn't get into it for the fame or the money, although they are nice perks (laughing). No, so I was nervous. But once we settled into it and I realized I was working with…I remembered that I was working with incredibly talented people, and I thought about just how happy it was going to make everybody – particularly little girls – then I felt a lot better and more comfortable making it.

Was it important to you to have some influence on how Mia was going to evolve in the second film?
Definitely, definitely. It was important to me that we do justice to the level of intelligence Mia has. I was a little nervous that playing a 21 year-old in a G rated movie wouldn't really make a lot of sense. So I just wanted to make sure that we didn't dumb her down for any reasons, just to make her more accessible but rather just, you know, we made her smart. And just that we didn't compromise her in any way. That was very important to me. Compromise her to fit situations that had already been dictated by the sequel, just in general.

Do you have much in common with your character?
Well, we're both absolute complete 100% klutzes. We have that in common. I'm a pretty thoughtful person and I think she is too. We both handle responsibility well. That's pretty much it. I mean, I don't have a country so that's a big difference.

What was your reaction when you were first cast as Mia?
I was 17 at the time. I was in New Zealand working on my very, very first movie, which was a little indie. I just screamed, I jumped on my bed. My brother was with me and I went and I hugged him. I think I said, “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, I'm so happy!” because I was on the phone with my agent and my manager. I said, “Oh my God, oh my God, I'm so happy. I need to call my mother.” So I got off the phone and called my father, it was his birthday so he was really excited to hear it.

It was one of the happier moments of my life. It was truly, truly great. I remember everything about it, too. I remember it was a little rainy outside. I was in a hotel room that had a really great view and I didn't have to work that day so I just walked around. I wanted that part really badly.

Have you always wanted to be an actress?
Yes, yes, I've always wanted to be.

You've never thought of being anything else?
I've entertained notions of different things. I wanted to be president. I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. I thought about being a teacher. I thought about being a writer. I thought about being a nun – that was a while ago. A few years, a few years.

So when did you decide to be an actress?
You know what it was? When I was little, I always spent so much time in my imagination coming up with…imagining I was different people, coming up with the circumstances of their lives, playing dress up. You couldn't convince me that I wasn't these people. Then getting to see my mom act I realized that there was a profession and that people got to do it all the time, and that people got to do it to entertain other people. So it was always a huge desire of mine and I was just very lucky that I was able to do it, and that I've been able to do it kind of at the level that I've been at. When things are moving that quickly you can either keep up or get left behind, so I've been very lucky that I've worked with people that have helped me keep up.

How did your parents react when you said you were going to be an actress?
“Great. How can we help?” I mean, actually when I first said it they said, “Not yet.” Then I kicked and screamed and then eventually they realized that it was something that I was going to do and they could either drive me into my auditions or I would take the train by myself or the subway, and I was 14. So they were like, “Okay, we'll help you out.”

I've never gotten anything but support and pragmatism from my parents. They are very realistic people. Whenever I would get too upset about a rejection, they would always say to me, “Fine. Then you can quit. You can give this up at any time. It is your choice. You are choosing to do this, you're not required to do anything.” And with that, they gave me so much freedom because then they're just like, “You know, you're the one who is always in control here. You're the one who is going out for these jobs. You're the one who is putting yourself up for the possibility of being rejected. And that's a huge part of being an actor. You have to understand that and accept it.” And it's helped me so much. It brought about a very rapid maturity because in order to deal with all that, you have to kind of develop this level of attachment. But now that I have it, I'm really grateful because it means when I'm not working, which means, you know, when you're working on a film those moments that you have off are really few and fair between, I can really shut off and just focus on my life – so that's cool.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2: Anne Hathaway on College Life, Diaries, and "Brokeback Mountain"

"PRINCESS DIARIES: ROYAL ENGAGEMENT" RESOURCES:
Interview with Julie Andrews
Callum Blue and Chris Pine Interview
"Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" Photo Gallery
"Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" Credits, Trailer and Websites