Chris Pine had negative $400 in his bank account before his 'Princess Diaries 2' payday changed his life
Chris Pine said that "The Princess Diaries 2" was a major turning point in his career.
The actor said that he had overdrafted his bank account before learning he would be paid $65,000.
Pine said that he'll never forget learning that he had booked the role.
If you would describe "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" as an "earth-shattering," life-changing film, you're not alone — Chris Pine would say the same, but for likely different reasons.
In a preview clip for "Sunday Today with Willie Geist," Pine spoke about how his $65,000 payday from the film helped him turn around his finances.
"I was on my little Verizon tiny little flip phone, and I got a call from my agents that I booked the job," Pine said. "I pulled over onto the side of the freeway and they said, 'You're getting paid $65,000,' and it was like they had just told me that I'd made $50 million."
"It was absolutely earth-shattering," he added.
The 2004 film is a sequel to "The Princess Diaries," which stars Anne Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis, a geeky teen who learns that she's actually the heir to a small European kingdom run by her estranged grandmother, Queen Clarice (Julie Andrews). In the sequel, Mia has to find a suitor within a month so that she can assume the throne. Pine plays one of her love interests. With a Shonda Rhimes-penned screenplay, it's delightful — and if we're lucky, maybe we'll get a "Princess Diaries 3."
Pine told Geist in the preview clip that he felt like booking the film represented the moment when he truly "started working." Prior to that, he had done some commercials and had a spot on the medical drama "ER." And while the $65,000 payday only turned out to be "about $15,000" after various deductions in the end, it was significant for him at the time.
"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 in that moment that my life had changed somehow," he 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," he continued..
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