Anne Hathaway, more than a famous name

FRANCES GRANT hears how a fairytale has come true for a young actor.

Anne Hathaway has acted out every girl's fantasy: being made over from a plain and gawky teenager to a beautiful, self-confident princess.

The star of The Princess Diaries plays Mia, a character transformed from an awkward teen into a glamorous celebrity after learning of her royal heritage and taking princess lessons.

Although she is seduced for a while by her newfound regal status, Mia never loses her common touch or becomes any less appealing. She certainly doesn't stop pulling faces.

"You know what it was?" says Hathaway, on the phone from Melbourne, giggling with pleasure at a commendation of her talent. Her face-pulling skills were developed in front of the makeup mirror during nine months spent filming a TV show, she explains.

"I wasn't allowed to read, I had to entertain myself somehow so I learned to control my facial muscles."

Her character Mia may have required a gruelling course in royal manners before trying out her new duties but the 18-year-old college student (English, women's studies) is bursting with instant enthusiasm on a day filled with press interviews: "Auckland - I was just there last summer for three weeks shooting a film called Upside of Heaven," she exclaims. "I had a great time, my older brother and I still talk about it, and for the past year I've been dreaming about sticky-date pudding. They don't make it in America. Auckland is a lovely place."

Hathaway began acting aged 3 and wanted to leave school and turn professional at the tender age of 8. "My parents said, no way was that happening." So she did the odd commercial, was the first teenager admitted to a prestigious New York drama training programme, and landed a role in a TV show, Get Real, which survived only one season.

The Princess Diaries is her big break and she declares she's had, well, the royal treatment. "It was my first feature film and it doesn't get much better than that because it was a fantastic role and a great project with totally A-list people. I was totally spoiled."

Co-star Julie Andrews - "my idol since I was 3 years old" - was "so down to earth and real, I learned so much from her."

The Princess Diaries' director Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman) is equally magnificent in his praise of Hathaway's talents, describing her as "a combination of Julia Roberts, Audrey Hepburn and Judy Garland".

The common touch comes swift as a reflex. This is all far too breathless for the Brooklyn-born, New Jersey-bred teenager. "He doesn't know what he's talking about ... frankly, I'd like to remove my name from the association because I'm totally not worthy."

There's a side of Mia that Hathaway says she certainly can relate to. "You know, that whole princess thing, being one myself - nah, just kidding."

Seriously now. "Mia was very similar to the person I was in high school. I was very much a wallflower, nobody really paid attention to me. And I had a lot of really special things going on in my life that I didn't really tell anyone about because I thought, oh they're weird, nobody will understand them."

What kind of things? "Acting - and a lot of beliefs I had in terms of my level of social consciousness. And I kept them quiet because I was nervous about how other people would react to me.

"After playing Mia, I realised that life's too short to do that. I've really opened up as a person and gained a lot of self-confidence. And I think, hey, if I can get that just from playing the part, imagine what little girls will get from watching it."

Whew. Dare we ask what Hathaway views as the message of this modern-day fairytale? "I think, like all fairytales, it's rather light but with a very important message: don't allow other people to label you because you are your own person. You need to find out what makes you unique, don't try to hide it, embrace it. Which I think is a very important message, one I could have used growing up." The common touch kicks in again: "And also: eating peanut butter crackers is just fine. I love food, obviously."

As well as helping to develop a talent for socially responsible and inspirational royal speech-making, The Princess Diaries gave Hathaway another vital insight. "It wasn't until I did [the film] that I really decided that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. As soon as I made that decision I haven't worked since," she says, sounding delighted at the irony.

Before she moves on to the next interview, Hathaway treats us to a final princess-like piece of graciousness and diplomacy.

Yes, she often gets asked about her famous name and puts it down to the literary bent of both her parents. Her nickname is Annie, she adds.

Does she get tired on the promotional treadmill? "I had such an amazing time working on this movie, and I have a life now that is a very enviable life, so I don't think I could get tired of this."

* The Princess Diaries is screening now.