Chris Pine discussed how his performance in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement affected both his personal and professional life. Pine talked about getting the role of Nicholas Devereaux in the 2004 movie, which launched his career and improved his financial situation, in the May 5 broadcast of Sunday Sitdown With Willie Geist.
Pine went on to say further, “I was getting off at Magnolia in the height of summer. I was on my tiny silver Verizon flip phone when I received a call from one of my agents saying that I had secured the position. ‘You’re getting paid $65,000,’ they said to me as I pulled over onto the side of the expressway. It seemed as though they had just informed me that I had won $50 million. It was truly seismic in nature.”
Chris Pine’s journey to The Princess Diaries 2
The follow-up to the 2001 film The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, stars Anne Hathaway as teenage princess Mia Thermopolis, who discovers she is the heir to the country of Genovia.
In Royal Engagement, Julie Andrews’ character Mia has a month to find a husband to usurp her grandmother’s (Julie Andrews) crown; one of the suitors vying for the princess’s heart is Pine.
Pine had a couple of commercials and a cameo in ER, The Guardian, and CSI: Miami before his big break. Pine’s $65,000 was reduced to roughly $15,000 through several deductions. Still, at the moment, it was vital money for him.
Chris Pine’s life-changing moment and career highlights
“I had an overdraft in my bank account; it was like $400 over. I was gonna have to ask my parents for money, and I got that $65,000, and I just remembered distinctly knowing at that moment that my life had changed somehow,” Pine said. “That lasted no time at all, and I owed my parents rent money. But that is a wild feeling. I’ll never forget that.”
Since then, Pine has starred in several films, including This Means War, Into the Woods, Wonder Woman, Don’t Worry Darling, and more. Poolman, his directorial debut, was released in the previous year.
