Anne Hathaway Recalls The Funny Way Angelina Jolie Inspired One Of Her Biggest Purchases After Landing The Princess Diaries

Angelina Jolie in Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Anne Hathaway in tiara in Princess Diaries
(Image credit: 20th Century Fox/Disney)

Anne Hathaway has two 2024 movies to her name, but another big 24 is coming into play this year, too. In fact, recently the actress recalled nabbing her part inThe Princess Diaries 24 years ago. Hathaway turned 18 while filming the comedy alongside Julie Andrews, and it was a pretty sizeable paycheck for the role. She recalled her first big purchase after landing the role of Mia Thermopolis, and Angelina Jolie was a big influence in the decision.

Anne Hathaway is somewhat of a fashion icon in her own right these days, between her amazing Aubrey Hepburn-esque look from last month or the stunning bright red Versace dress she wore at The Idea Of You premiere in April. But her story about The Princess Diaries mentions a brand that feels super early aughts.

When I got ‘The Princess Diaries’ I bought myself a pair of leather pants from Diesel. I remember getting taken by the costume designer to the 3rd Street Promenade. I scouted this pair of leather pants for the longest time, because I was the world’s biggest Angelina Jolie fan, and she always wore leather pants. And when I got the Princess Diaries I was like, this is my first movie, I’m getting leather pants.

Anne Hathaway grew up in Brooklyn, but once she struck big in Hollywood, The Princess Diaries costume designer brought her to Santa Monica’s outdoor fashion hub where she decided to cut loose and buy some designer leather pants. Why? Because she was super into Angelina Jolie, of course. The actress, who is seven years older than Hathaway, had started gaining prominence in the public eye at that time with Hackers, Girl, Interrupted and Gone In 60 Seconds, and Hathaway loved her style.

While leather pants are totally not the same energy as the Queen of Genovia, it’s sweet that Anne Hathaway shouted out Angelina Jolie while speaking to Women’s Wear Daily. As someone who used to be an 18-year-old teen girl like Anne Hathaway was, I can recall looking to celebrities and their fashion sense to inform my own, and making a purchase like this would have been a huge deal to me, too.

It’s especially fun to hear about Anne Hathaway’s early days as a star now that she announced The Princess Diaries 3 is happening. Hathaway shared the good news a couple of months ago with word that Joy Ride director Adele Lim is set to helm the feature. We don’t know The Princess Diaries 3 release date right now, or if Julie Andrews, Chris Pine and such will be joining, but we certainly hope they will accompany Hathaway.

Additionally, Angelina Jolie has been out and about with her first role in three years with Maria, which has earned rave reviews and is now streaming on Netflix. Perhaps if she hasn't already, one day Hathaway will get to tell Jolie about her funny first purchase!

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.