Anne Hathaway Tears Up Watching ‘The Princess Diaries,’ Explains Not Wanting a ‘Devil Wears Prada’ Sequel

Anne Hathaway thanks you for being here today! The 41-year-old actress is reflecting on some of her classics from her lengthy film catalogue in a new segment for Vanity Fair.

The video features Hathaway sitting down to watch some of her most memorable past roles, kicking things off with her breakthrough performance as Mia Thermopolis in the 2001 film The Princess Diaries opposite Julie Andrews.

Noting that she hasn’t watched the film in about 20 years, Hathaway added, “This was the film that changed my life.”

“I was 17 years old when we made this and so, I hadn’t met as many people yet in my life, so I knew [director] Garry Marshall was really special and I knew Julie Andrews was really special, but now sitting here watching this from this point of view, they are two of the most magical people I’ve ever met,” Hathaway gushed.

Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway in ‘The Princess Diaries’

Walt Disney Pictures

Watching the clips back, a teary Hathaway got visibly choked up, adding, “I’m a little bit speechless with this one. It’s very emotional to see it.”

Reflecting on the impact of the hit Disney film, which also had a 2004 sequel — The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement — Hathaway explained, “I don’t know what to say. It’s almost too big to… It felt so big at the time and wound up being so big and it’s kind of just gotten bigger as my life has progressed.”

‘Vanity Fair’/YouTube

Another classic in Hathaway’s repertoire is the 2006 hit, The Devil Wears Prada, in which Hathaway plays journalistic hopeful Andy Sachs, who gets a job as an assistant for the formidable Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) at Runway.

“All of you have seen this movie way more recently than I have,” Hathaway insisted. “It’s been if not over a decade, maybe two decades since I’ve seen this movie, so this is amazing.”

Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, and Emily Blunt in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’

20th Century Fox

Noting she’s “so proud” to have been in the film, Hathaway said she did realize it was a big deal while she was filming it.

“Yeah, I did, I did. Not as huge as it’s become, but I just, it had a magnetic quality to me that I had to be a part of it,” she explained. “Not this, though, not the way it’s just sort of woven into the culture and such a touchstone for some people. I didn’t realize it was going to have such a lasting impression.”

However, despite the impact, Hathaway isn’t interested in a sequel to the film. In her interview for the magazine, she explained that with the new media landscape transitioning to the digital space, she prefers films that avoid modern habits like texting.

“I’m just realizing this as I talk to you,” she said. “I haven’t turned to my team and said, ‘Only send me movies that predate the personal computer revolution.'”