Chris Pine recalls getting paid $65k for his first film The Princess Diaries 2 ahead of directorial debut

American actor Chris Pine recently opened up about the "earth-shattering" moment when he landed the lead role opposite Anne Hathaway in the 2004 film The Princess Diaries 2.

On May 3, 2024, the 43-year-old appeared in an interview with TODAY ahead of his directorial debut in the film, Poolman. He recalled the memory of his first film saying:

"I was driving on the freeway in my 1972 BMW that I've had since I was 16. I was on my little Verizon little flip phone and I got a call from my agents that I booked the job. I pulled over onto the side of the freeway and they said, ‘You're getting paid $65,000.'"

Pine shared that he had been struggling financially at the time and the job helped change his life.

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Chris Pine says getting Princess Diaries 2 role was “absolutely earth-shattering"

Chris Pine began his career in 2003, making his TV debut by playing the role of a drunk patient on the medical drama ER. He also had small acting jobs in The Guardian and CSI: Miami episodes.

He made his movie debut by portraying the role of Nicholas Devereaux in The Princess Diaries 2 in 2004. In the film, Anne Hathaway's character Mia Thermopolis falls in love with Nicholas at the end. In his recent interview, Chris Pine recalled that he found out that he got the role while driving his car on the freeway.

The actor appeared on the Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist with TODAY. Pine recounted that he was told he would earn $65,000 for his work. He mentioned that he was struggling financially:

"It was like they had just told me I’d make $15 million. It was absolutely earth-shattering. I had an overdraft on my bank account. It was like $400 over. I was going to have to ask my parents for money, and then I got that 65."

During the sit-down, Chris Pine talked about receiving his salary:

"I just remember distinctly knowing in that moment that my life had changed somehow, even though [$65,000] at the end of the day turned out to be about $15,000. And I owed my parents rent money. But that is a wild feeling. I’ll never forget that."

The debut role resulted in Chris Pine being cast as the leading man in the Lindsay Lohan-starring rom-com, Just My Luck, in 2006. The actor received his big break with the sci-fi franchise Star Trek. In the J.J. Abrams-directed reboot, Pine took over William Shatner’s role as Captain Kirk in 2009.

Now, 20 years later, Chris Pine has directed, co-written, and starred in the film Poolman as Darren Barrenman. According to the official role description, Darren is "a native Los Angeleno who spends his days looking after the pool of the Tahitian Tiki apartment block and fighting to make his hometown a better place to live."

There have been rumors since November 2022 that Disney is developing a third Princess Diaries film. However, the cast or the company has not shared any official announcement as of yet. Back in 2023, Chris Pine claimed that he would be open to receiving a pitch to reprise his role in a future sequel. In 2023, he told Entertainment Tonight when asked about the rumors:

"Yeah, I'm here! I'm here for it. Give me a phone call or an email."

Poolman also stars several other artists, including Annette Bening, DeWanda Wise, Stephen Tobolowsky, Clancy Brown, John Ortiz, Ray Wise, Juliet Mills, Ariana DeBose, and more. It is scheduled to be released in the United States on May 10, 2024.