By Neia Balao
6:57pm PST, Nov 11, 2022
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"Me, a princess? Shut up!" It feels like just yesterday that we were introduced to Mia Thermopolis — the endearing Princess of Genovia, played by Anne Hathaway, who ends up trading her humble San Francisco life for a full-time gig running a European country — in the movie "The Princess Diaries." As one of the film's stars, Heather Matarazzo — who played Mia's best friend Lilly in the 2001 flick loosely based on Meg Cabot's novel of the same name — celebrates her 40th birthday on Nov. 10, 2022, Wonderwall.com is checking up on the cast to find out what they're up to (and look like!) now…
Put on your favorite early aughts playlist and keep reading for more…
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Heather Matarazzo played Lily Moscovitz, Mia's best friend who runs their high school's radio show. Despite coming around to her bestie's royal obligations, Lily was also pretty mean when she first saw Mia's princess makeover. Robert Schwartzman played Michael Moscovitz, Lily's older brother who has a major love for M&Ms and major feelings for Mia.
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Heather Matarazzo notably appeared in "Saved!" and reprised her role as Lilly Moscovitz in "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" in 2004. She had a four-episode arc on "The L Word" in 2007, appeared on eight episodes of "Exes & Ohs" from 2007 to 2011 and landed a small role on "Grey's Anatomy" in 2015. The actress, who married film producer Heather Turman in 2018, more recently appeared in 2022's "Scream."
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Who could forget this cutie?! After portraying Michael Moscovitz, Robert Schwartzman approached Hollywood from behind the camera as a director. The Los Angeles native — who's the younger brother of actor-musician Jason Schwartzman, the son of "Rocky" actress Talia Shire and the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola (he also counts filmmaker Sofia Coppola and actor Nicolas Cage as cousins) — has directed three indie flicks: "Dreamland," "The Unicorn" and, more recently, "The Argument." Robert's also a successful musician: He's fronted the band Rooney since 1999. He married photographer Zoey Grossman — whom he met in first grade — in 2017.
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"Because only Paolo can take this, and this, and give you… a princess!" Anne Hathaway played Mia Thermopolis, a socially awkward teen who learns she's actually of royal blood.
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Anne Hathaway's star power has continued to grow since she portrayed the Princess of Genovia! She found massive success in the '00s with starring roles in "The Devil Wears Prada," "Brokeback Mountain" and "Rachel Getting Married," for which she received an Academy Award nomination for best actress. She's also starred in "Love & Other Drugs," "The Dark Knight Rises," "Les Misérables" — for which she won an Oscar — "Interstellar" and, more recently, the 2022 miniseries "WeCrashed." Anne has two kids with jewelry designer Adam Shulman, whom she wed in 2012.
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Pop star and actress Mandy Moore played Lana Thomas, a mean-spirited cheerleader who has a hard time accepting Mia's newfound status as a princess. As with many of her earlier acting roles, Mandy had the opportunity to show off her vocal prowess in the film: She sang a rendition of "Stupid Cupid" in the movie's infamous beach scene!
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"The Princess Diaries" was just the beginning of Mandy Moore's run as a popular actress of the 2000s. The "Candy" singer charmed audiences with her performance in 2002's "A Walk to Remember" alongside Shane West and later landed leading roles in the 2004 films "Chasing Liberty" and "Saved!" After voicing Princess Rapunzel in Disney's "Tangled" in 2010 (she also later lent her vocal talents to its spinoff series), Mandy returned to acting in 2016 with a starring role on the critically acclaimed NBC family-drama series "This Is Us." During its run, which ended in 2022, she scored an Emmy nomination and earned two SAG Awards for her performance alongside her castmates. Following headline-making aughts romances with stars including Wilmer Valderrama, Andy Roddick, Zach Braff and the late DJ AM, she married musician Ryan Adams in 2009. They split in 2015 and she later accused him of psychological abuse. She wed her second husband, Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith, in 2018; they've since welcomed two kids.
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Mia's longtime crush, popular Josh Bryant, was played by Erik von Detten. Josh only takes an interest in Mia after her drastic princess makeover.
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Following the release of "The Princess Diaries," Erik von Detten appeared in a handful of guest-starring roles on TV shows like "8 Simple Rules" and "Malcolm in the Middle" and starred on "Complete Savages" but by 25, he'd largely retreated from the industry, save for an occasional role here and here (including voicing Sid in 2010's "Toy Story 3" after originating the role in the first film in 1995). "When things started to slow down in acting in my early 20s, another opportunity presented itself for me with a company that I started working with at age 25," Erik told E! News in 2021. "And I've been with that company ever since. It's a sales position … working in finance. I've grown into a management position and it's worked out really well." He's now married to Los Angeles realtor Angela von Detten, with whom he has two kids.
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Clarisse Renaldi — the Queen of Genovia who's also Mia's grandmother with whom she reconnects — was played by the one and only Julie Andrews.
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"Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music" icon Julie Andrews had already made an indelible mark on the film industry by the time she starred in "The Princess Diaries." The Oscar-winning English actress reprised her role as Queen Clarisse Renaldi in 2004's "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" before transitioning to voice acting. As well as voicing Queen Lillian in "Shrek the Third" and "Shrek Forever After," Julie also voiced Marlena in the "Despicable Me" and "Minions" franchises and has served as the narrator on the hit Netflix series "Bridgerton" since its 2020 debut.
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Clarisse's loyal head of security — and eventual love interest — was played by Hector Elizondo.
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After starring as Clarisse Renaldi's sweet knight in shining armor, Hector Elizondo had brief stints on "Grey's Anatomy" and "Monk" before appearing in 2010's "Valentine's Day." The Emmy-winning "Chicago Hope" actor more recently appeared on "Last Man Standing" from 2011 to 2021 and the sitcom "B Positive" from 2021 to 2022.
