Anne Hathaway is preparing to return to Genovia without the costar who helped introduce her to movie audiences 25 years ago. Days after Julie Andrews confirmed that she will not appear in The Princess Diaries 3, Hathaway shared what she expects to miss most when the long-awaited sequel moves forward.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly ahead of her Disney Legends induction at D23, Hathaway singled out Andrews’ “sense of humor” and described the 90-year-old actress as warm, gracious and funny.
“She brings magic with her wherever she goes,” Hathaway said, reflecting on the costar who played Queen Clarisse Renaldi opposite her Mia Thermopolis in the first two films.
Andrews had made her own position definitive only days earlier. In an interview discussed by PEOPLE, she said, “I’m not going to be in it,” explaining that the next chapter should belong to Hathaway’s character. “It’s her story. It’s not really mine.”
Hathaway Says She’ll Miss Andrews’ Humor Most
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Hathaway and Andrews played granddaughter and grandmother in 2001’s The Princess Diaries and reunited three years later for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. For Hathaway, Andrews was also one of the established stars she encountered at the very beginning of her film career.
Asked what she would miss most about having Andrews on the third movie’s set, Hathaway pointed first to her humor. She also described Andrews as someone who makes people feel comfortable expressing affection toward her and returns that warmth easily.
She called Andrews perhaps the greatest Disney Legend of all time and recalled being only 17 when they first worked together. Hathaway also credited Andrews with teaching her through example that kindness, patience and hard work could coexist on a major movie set.
At D23, Hathaway also reflected on how the franchise has grown alongside its audience and said the team behind the third movie feels a responsibility to get Mia’s return right.
Andrews Says the Story Belongs to Mia Now
She said the third installment has a somewhat different story and suggested that it was simply too late for her to return as Clarisse. Her view was that the narrative should continue through Mia rather than remain centered on her grandmother.
That direction also follows naturally from where The Princess Diaries 2 left the characters. The sequel ends with Clarisse stepping aside after Mia successfully challenges the Genovian law requiring her to marry before taking the throne. Mia becomes queen without going through with a loveless marriage, while Clarisse has married Joe, played by Héctor Elizondo.
‘Princess Diaries 3’ Had to Start Over With a New Story Direction
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The sequel is moving forward, but its production timeline remains unsettled. Hathaway gave one of the clearest recent updates during a July appearance on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy. She said the filmmakers had experienced a “story breakthrough” after deciding that an earlier version of the screenplay was no longer the direction they wanted to pursue.
Hathaway nevertheless said the team felt the new approach was moving the project in the right direction. Her pregnancy has created another scheduling consideration. Hathaway said in July that preparing for her third child had taken the place of knowing exactly when she would be able to make the movie, and no shooting schedule or release date had been announced at that point.
She also told PEOPLE that she and Mia now share similar values, including wanting a world built around love and equality. Hathaway also said she wants Mia herself to have love, without revealing what that means for the story or whether any previous romantic character will return.