PRINCESS DIARIES 2: ROYAL ENGAGEMENT - Q&A with ANNE HATHAWAY, JULIE ANDREWS and GARRY MARSHALL

Movie Interview by Neils Hesse


GARRY MARSHALL: Before we start I have an announcement to make, we originally had a fox hunting scene in the movie

ANNE HATHAWAY: Yes I saved the fox in that scene.

GARRY MARSHALL: Yes so we had to cut it, the people at Disney were worried that it would cause controversy over here in England so that was that! [Laughter]

Garry considering your past as a drummer you obviously couldn't resist playing the skins in this movie in the last scene?

GARRY MARSHALL: Yes, I was a drummer to start with. I did it just to get noticed as a way to eventually get into movies, so I decided to play the bass drum in this movie.

Garry, considering the number of your family members that you have put in your movies is it your intention to go for the world record?

GARRY MARSHALL: Yes I have told these two Julie and Anne that nepotism is a good thing. My son played [Security Guard] Shades in this one and my grandson was the ring bearer, in fact the only way to get him to smile was to sing "the wheels on the bus go round and round" so one of the best shots for me was the scene where the baby comes in carried by Shades because we had the whole 120 strong cast there singing "the wheels on the bus go round and round".

Dame Julie you do something in this movie that we thought you would never do again, you sing, what was that like?

JULIE ANDREWS: Oh thank goodness I thought that you were going to talk about mattress surfing. I don't call it singing I call it Rex Harrison's sing speak and happily it worked. The girl I pick out to dance after I sing happens to be one of my grandchildren. Anne also has some family in the movie.

ANNE HATHAWAY: Yes the choir instructor in the church is my mum and my dad plays the deceased prince of Genovia.

In the movie the princess has a very extravagant wardrobe. What would you say was the most extravagant thing that each of you has ever bought with your first pay cheque?

ANNE HATHAWAY: Well my first year at college was quite a luxury. College is really expensive in America and also I bought a green purse.

JULIE ANDREWS: I bought a dress for an interview, but the first thing that was truly dear to me and that I still own was a little sculpture by Henry Moore.

GARRY MARSHALL: I paid the rent and also I bought a present for my wife.

Julie, any thoughts as to why we lost the musical and why it seems to slowly be coming back into fashion?

JULIE ANDREWS: One of the reasons is price and probably the era for breaking into song for no apparent reason has passed but I hope that we will see it come back again, there is so much talent out there.

Garry why haven't you done a musical?

GARRY MARSHALL: I think that it's because Marnie Nixon retired. Now of course there are people who can really sing like these two ladies but anyway I am doing HAPPY DAYS for the theatre and I am also doing an opera.

Anne are you going to do an album?

ANNE HATHAWAY: I have been thinking about it recently. At a family get together my mum got up and sang. She was so good and she did it to express her feelings. It meant so much and it got me thinking about the opportunities that I have, and so I would like to at some point sit down and do some stuff.

Where is Genovia?

GARRY MARSHALL: Genovia is a country that looks like a studio back lot

ANNE HATHAWAY: But is actually between CGI and Burbank.

JULIE ANDREWS: Somewhere between France and England just keep driving and don't ask for directions and you should get there just fine. [Laughter]


Anne you seem to have played fairly similar roles, do you long to play something different?

ANNE HATHAWAY: Well I am the 'go to tiara' girl but I have just done a movie called HAVOC and I play a rodeo queen in Ang Lee's new movie [BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN]. I have been lucky in that I have been given the chance to do something different.

How important do you all think in these times that we live in for movies like this one to be made?

GARRY MARSHALL: Well firstly it is a living for me, but studios avoid them because they don't make too much money. Before PRETTY WOMAN the studios said it could not be done. I for one believe that it is important that the family go to movies together and this is that kind of a movie.

JULIE ANDREWS: In March here in the UK you will see a documentary I did about Broadway and in these times I think that escapism is good.

ANNE HATHAWAY: I think that it is important to make an entertaining film, for example you might disagree but I love CHARLIE'S ANGELS the movie it was great entertainment.

GARRY MARSHALL: The art these days is in the publicity and marketing.

Any roles that both of you Ladies would have liked to play?

JULIE ANDREWS: No I am content. I just hope that I keep getting asked.

ANNE HATHAWAY: Well my dream role is Eliza Doolittle and also a Bond Girl I would love that.

JULIE ANDREWS: I like that I could play M in Bond actually.

Garry you have acted before is there any role that you would like to play?

GARRY MARSHALL: I would like to play Shakespeare, I think that would be very interesting and also as you know Anne Hathaway just happened to be the name of his wife so there you go!

Anne, in the movie you get to change a law. What law would you make in real life and Julie what did you think about the new Peter Sellers movie [THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS?

ANNE HATHAWAY: I would make it illegal to not vote.

JULIE ANDREWS: Geoffrey [Rush as Peter Sellers] was very good but John Lithgow is not nearly as handsome as Blake Edwards.

Ladies what were your favourite scenes in the movie? (PHASE9 - Neils Hesse)

ANNE HATHAWAY: The scene when Julie sings.

JULIE ANDREWS: Well I feel in love with the dog Maurice he was so clever, he could tell in the emotional scenes that there was sadness as he would automatically frown and drop his head to one side, a very sweet dog.

Anne how influential has your mum been seeing as she is a trained actress herself?

ANNE HATHAWAY: She gives me unlimited support and unconditional love.

Julie and Garry anything you have both learned in your many years in showbiz?

JULIE ANDREWS: As a child I was once doing a concert in Eastbourne [UK] and my mum wanted to pack my stuff for me to take with me but I insisted that I could do it on my own and, once we got there I realized that I had left my shoes for the performance at home and as it was a Sunday there was a not a shop open. So my mum painted my feet to make it seem like I was wearing shoes and I ended up leaving footprints all over the stage. So the lesson I have learned is to never forget to pack your shoes.

GARRY MARSHALL:: My first decision is normally a mistake and the second and third are normally the best ones so I have learnt to wait for the second or third decision before I make it final.