Ellen was Anne Hathaway’s Inspiration for ‘The Princess Diaries’

[APPLAUSE] They're fun. Aren't they fun? I think so. See? Everyone. [CHEERING] We're all moving in together. Oh, can I visit? Yes, you can. Good. You can live here if you'd like. Ooh. Yeah. That's quite an offer. Yes, it is, isn't it? [LAUGHS] You won't get that from other talk shows. I can tell you, I haven't yet. Yeah, not yet. All right, so is it Anne or Annie? Because the other night when I met you, I thought you said Annie, but is it? Yeah, everybody calls me Annie. I mean, Anne is on the b

irth certificate. Uh-huh. By the way, can I just say what a pleasure it is to be here? Oh, thank you. Really. Thank you. I've been a huge fan since I was about 10 years old. Oh, thank you very much. I used to watch you on Comedy Central all the time. When you were 10 years old, you watched me? Yeah. You got my comedy at 10 years old? Yeah. I like that. [LAUGHTER] But yeah, and then when I started to do physical comedy and preparing for Princess Diaries, you were a big inspiration. Really? Yeah,

just sort of the, you know, stuff. Oh. I'm known for that. Exactly. I meant that as a compliment, truthfully. Yeah, and I take it as one. Oh, good. I'm Ellen the amuser, you know that. [LAUGHTER] All right, so it's Annie? Yes. All right, Annie. Nice to have you here. I'm glad that you're happy to be here-- Thank you. Yes, [? I am. ?] --and I'm thrilled that you've been watching me since you were 10. Mm-hmm. I feel very old. [LAUGHTER] No, I actually don't feel old. But you look great. Oh, well,

thanks. Yeah, you do. [CHEERING] I might keep this back here just to-- Oh, I did try that. Yeah, it's once in a while. You just take a little bit of it. There's actually oxygen in here right now. Come here. Oh, Thank you. Smell it. Ooh, OK. Aren't you jealous? Yeah. Ooh, there is oxygen. Mm-hmm. I'll take your word. I don't go around sniffing, but I'll take your word for it. Mm-hmm. Now, OK. So you just-- [LAUGHTER] You what? What did you say? I don't even know. No, what did you say? [LAUGHS] I

said I don't go around usually inhaling pure oxygen, but I'll take your word for it. Yeah. No, it is. it's a long story. I was dancing the other day, and and I needed it. [LAUGHTER] But I look great, and that's the important thing. [CHEERING] All right. So you just turned 21 the other day, recently. Yeah. When? Well, in November. November. Yes. And so, congratulations, 21. Thank you. What's that like? [LAUGHTER] Actually, I liked it because being a teenager was kind of awful. When you're a teena

ger, there's always a sense that, somehow, it will-- because it will end eventually, so there's this kind of impending sense of doom attached to everything. Uh-huh. So when I turned 21, all of a sudden, the next thing that I could count on was that someday I would die. Mm-hmm. I didn't know what that was, but that made me really happy. Uh-huh. Yeah. So yeah, so it's actually-- I've mellowed out since turning 21. Yeah. Well, the drinking helps a lot because-- [LAUGHTER] --we all have that doom. O

h, yeah. Yeah. We all have that sense of doom, and then when 21 comes around, we can drink because the doom is still there. It doesn't go away. Oh, right. But, well, so now you're mellow more. Yeah. I think I've kind of calmed down a little bit. Because it says here on the cover of CosmoGirl, "Anne Hathaway, she's not that innocent." Ah. Ooh. What have you done? I haven't gotten married in Las Vegas or anything. No, but why is that-- [CHEERING] What does that mean, she's not that innocent? I don

't know. You're going to have to ask the writer. Yeah. I think I'm pretty normal, so apparently, that means I'm not that innocent. Well, it's just they do stuff like that to get you to read the article. Are you intrigued? Yes, I just haven't had time to get to it. Aw. Yeah. [LAUGHTER] So, no, I am going to. I'll read it right now. So anyway, everybody, I was walking down the street the other day, and-- [LAUGHTER] Now, this is another amazing thing that I can't believe. You're in college, and you

're doing movie after movie. How are you still in college? Well, I'm taking lots of breaks. The college is being really nice and letting me do that. Where are you going? I go to Vassar College. Mm-hmm. And so, I've completed a year and a half. I hope to get back next year to finish up the sophomore year. It's taken a really long time, but it's going really well. So you'll graduate when you're 60? Basically, yeah. [LAUGHTER] My parents are very proud. Yeah. [LAUGHTER] They should be proud of you.

All right. What's your major? What are you majoring in? Well, I'm obviously doing really well because I'm undeclared, but-- [LAUGHTER] --but I'm going to be an English major, hopefully, with a correlate in international politics. English major? Mm-hmm. Well, why would you do-- I can understand everything you're saying. [LAUGHTER] I've got a thing for dead poets. Yeah. What can I say? And then what do you want to do in politics? Oh, well, it's kind of like a minor, but we don't have minors. We h

ave correlates. We're pretentious. Correlates? Correlates, and that would be an international politics. I see. But you're going to still act, right? Are you going to-- Oh, yeah, definitely. OK. I love learning and going to school. And I mean, it sounds like an obvious thing to say, but I've learned more in the past three semesters than I ever knew really was out there before, so I figure, well, what else is there that I can figure out? Well, good for you to have that kind of thirst for knowledge

like that. Some people would just get into this acting and do nothing else like me. [LAUGHTER] You're doing OK. Don't pull that. I just try to absorb everything I can from the guests. I'll be, during the break, asking you what all of that you just said meant. [LAUGHTER] We actually have to take a commercial. We'll be back in a second. We're back with Anne Hathaway. That's a clip from Ella Enchanted. And so, in the movie, you play-- you have to obey orders. You're born with the-- That clip makes

more sense if you know that I have no choice in my actions. Right. Basically, once Ella hears a command, she's under a fairy curse, so she has to do everything that she's told. Uh-huh. We had Vivica Fox on and she plays-- Lucinda, the fairy. She's kind of the demented fairy of the kingdom-- Right. --so she thinks the gift of obedience is great. Uh-huh. It's not. Right. And did you have fun doing that? Oh, I had a great time working. We were in Ireland, and the 21 thing didn't matter there, so.

No. [LAUGHTER] I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. We had a great time there. [LAUGHTER] And you sing in the movie too, right? Yes, I do. I didn't plan on it, but after I got to Ireland, after they already had me, they asked me if I would, and so I said yeah. Did they know that you sang? They did. I was kind of a competitive choir girl in high school. Yeah. What does that mean, competitive choir? Well, I was-- [VOCALIZING] That's it. You could have been too. I was actually-- this is going to sound re

ally dorky, but I was the number one ranked soprano 1 in New Jersey when I was in high school. Wow. Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah. You were Annie the entertainer. You see, there you go. Yeah. Following in your footsteps. Uh-huh. I wish. But no, it was great. We got to sing, and then I joined a national choir, and we got to sing at Carnegie Hall. It was really fun. Wow. Well, will you sing for us right now? [CHEERING] OK. Come on. OK. So in the movie, Ella finds herself at a giant wedding, and

she sings the song that I think people know. It's by Queen, so OK. (SINGING) Can anybody find me somebody to And then the giants come in with (SINGING) Love. [CHEERING] Wow. That's beautiful. Thank you. That's beautiful. Ella Enchanted, It hits theaters this Friday. The big finish is next. Don't go away. That was really [? good. ?] [MUSIC PLAYING] [CHEERING]