TV & Movies
Shonda Rhimes Shares Details Of A Princess Diaries 2 Deleted Scene
“It was such an amazing moment.”
Shonda Rhimes is revealing some behind-the-scenes tidbits. Before Grey’s Anatomy and Bridgerton, the screenwriter and producer lent her talents to 2004’s The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, the sequel to Disney’s The Princess Diaries starring Anne Hathaway.
In a new interview with Variety, Rhimes talked about working on the film, sharing that producer Deborah Martin Chase approached her to write the screenplay. “I thought that would be a really fun thing to do,” she said. “It turned out to be great.”
Along with Hathaway and Chris Pine, the sequel also stars Bridgerton narrator Julie Andrews as Queen Clarisse Renaldi. “It was great to get to work with her,” Rhimes said, before revealing that her favorite Andrews scene was “cut out of the movie.”
In the scene, Andrews’ character reveals that “she’s just had her heart broken” as some of her royal staff enter the room to ask her a question. “She screams, ‘Do I never get a moment to myself?’”
“It was such an amazing moment,” said Rhimes, who praised Andrews’ portrayal of the fictional royal. “It was really about the pain of being a queen that she did so well.” She noted that Andrews is “the nicest person you will ever meet” behind the scenes, adding, “I was nervous to meet her.”
Set five years after the first film, The Princess Diaries 2 follows Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway) as she graduates from college and returns to Genovia, where she discovers that she must get married within 30 days or is ineligible to be crowned queen.
The Princess Diaries 3
A third movie in the series is reportedly in development, and Hathaway has expressed interest in reprising her role. “I’m pulling for it,” she told Entertainment Tonight in 2022. “If there’s any way to get Julie Andrews involved, I think we would make it work.”
Andrews, however, isn’t convinced a third chapter should happen. “It’s quite a long time now since the two Diaries were done,” she said on TODAY in March. “Sometimes it’s best to leave a good thing alone. I don’t like it when people milk and milk and milk the subject, you know, ‘til it’s dead.”
