Chris Pine reveals the role that changed his life: “I’ll never forget that”
For a time at the start of Chris Pine‘s career, the actor believed that he’d never make it in Hollywood and the opportunities would never come, but that all changed in 2004.
While Pine’s rise to superstardom was far from an overnight success story, the first step he made onto the ladder was a vital stepping stone which provided him with financial freedom to chase his dream. Admittedly, his role as Anne Hathaway’s love interest in the Princess Diaries 2 didn’t make a splash in awards season, it meant everything to Pine.
Before being cast opposite the Hollywood A-lister, Pine’s acting roles had been limited to the occasional bit of television work, making appearances in shows such as ER and CSI: Miami.
During a new conversation with Sunday Today, Pine remembered: “I got a call from my agent saying I booked the job, and I pulled over to the side of the freeway, and they said, ‘You’re getting paid $65,000′. It was like they had just told me I’d make $15 million.”
At the time of the casting, Pine’s finances were ruinous and it was “absolutely earth-shattering” for the actor to star in a big movie. If he wasn’t cast in Princess Diaries 2, chances are that he wouldn’t have been able to be in future films such as Star Trek and Don’t Worry Darling.
“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,” he revealed.
Pine continued: “I remember distinctly knowing in that moment that my life had changed somehow even though 65 at the end of the day turned out to be like $15,000.”
As he wasn’t making any money prior to Princess Diaries 2, Pine was reliant on his parents bankrolling his ambitions; he recalled, “And I owed my parents rent money. But that is a wild feeling. I’ll never forget that.”
Pine’s most recent high-profile movie was Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, released in 2023. In the film, he portrays Edgin Darvis, and Pine declared the project to be a perfect antidote to the ongoing difficult times.
Speaking at the red carpet premiere, he said: “To come out and see audience’s faces, you see exactly what cinema should do, which is people are, like, alive. They want to talk about it. They’re in a great mood. The world is so shitty, so why not use this vehicle – big-budget cinema – to make people feel better.”
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