Anne Hathaway has spoken out following the confirmation that Dame Julie Andrews wouldn’t be appearing in a third Princess Diaries film, with the lead star expressing hope that the actor may change her mind.
Last week, the screen icon confirmed that she wouldn’t be reprising her role as Queen Clarisse Renaldi in the upcoming film, with the legend explaining that she was “really past all that now”.
Now, after receiving a Disney Legends Honour at last weekend’s D23 Expo, Hathaway has said that she is “respectful” of Andrews’s decision despite the fact that strong efforts were made to convince her to come aboard.
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“First of all, I just want to say if she [Andrews] has a change of heart, we’re down,” Hathaway told Entertainment Tonight. “Just anything, really. But we also want to be respectful.
“Like, for goodness sakes, if anybody has contributed to the world of entertainment and to our collective joy, it’s her. Whatever she wants, we completely understand. We did push really hard to see if she would want to do it.”
Andrews, who will soon be the focus of a “revealing” documentary from Disney+, previously indicated that she no longer had any interest in acting on-screen despite the fact that she didn’t consider herself to be “completely retired”.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, she noted: “The absolute truth is that I think I’m really past all that now. I’m not completely retired, but it’s a different kind of work that I do these days… But truly, I don’t think I should be a part of it.”
The highly-anticipated film will see Hathaway reprise her role as Mia Thermopolis, a part she last played over 20 years ago. Despite the lengthy gap, the actor had a clear vision for the upcoming instalment.
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“I just want it to be fun,” she said. “I want the women who were six when the first one came out, a lot of whom are now mothers themselves, maybe even with six-year-olds… I want them to feel like they’re bringing their children to something that mattered to them.”
Earlier this year, Hathaway provided an update on how the project was progressing, sharing: “I think we are moving in the right direction… We all feel really good that this is gonna be the one.”
The Princess Diaries 3 has no release date.
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Shaun is an Evening News Editor at Digital Spy, with over a decade of experience reporting on all things pop culture. He has written for outlets including Metro, Attitude, Huffington Post, The Mirror, Yahoo!, Pink News and Express Online, specialising in TV, movies, soaps, music and LGBTQ+ issues. He is also a BAFTA Rocliffe-winning scriptwriter, having written episodes of the soap Hollyoaks, the official Steps musical Here & Now and multiple Offie Award-nominated plays. He studied English Literature and Drama at the University of East Anglia, and will happily talk at length about Desperate Housewives to anyone who’ll listen.