Can you believe it’s been almost two decades since Ella of Frell defeated the evil king in Ella Enchanted?! We can’t.
The 2004 movie follows Anne Hathaway as Ella, who receives a “gift” of obedience by her fairy godmother that makes it impossible not to do what she’s told. A Cinderella retelling with ugly stepsisters to match, Ella goes on a quest to find her godmother and end her curse, all while running into elves, goblins and a handsome prince (naturally) named Prince Charmont.
The movie had so many iconic cameos of legendary actors, too! Cary Elwes, of Princess Bride and Robin Hood, made a cameo as evil King Edward, while Minnie Driver from Good Will Hunting and Return to Me played Mandy. Heck, even Heidi Klum starred as a giant who fell in love with an elf in the movie! Talk about iconic.
The film came out shortly after Princess Diaries in 2001 and the Oscar-winning actress seemed to be getting a little tired of the princess genre by the time Ella Enchanted wrapped. It seemed to have been important to her that the film didn’t take itself too seriously. One reason she did the film was because of the way Ella Enchanted made fun of itself and the genre.
“In terms of the princess role, there is only so long that you can play those as a young lady before you start feeling really ridiculous,” she explained. “They are so much fun to do, I figure I might as well get the most out of them while I can. Then [I’ll] go off and play all the drug addicts and the prostitutes, and all the good ones you win Oscars for a little bit later on. But now I am, yes, ready to hang up the tiara [and] put the ball gown in storage.”
And that she did! Anne won an Oscar for her role in Les Misérables and is still very active in the acting world to this day. Scroll through our gallery to discover what the entire cast of Ella Enchanted is up to now.
Love J-14? Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for fun, exclusive videos with your favorite stars.
