Christy Carlson Romano Reveals the Anne Hathaway Role She Lost Thanks to ‘Even Stevens’ Producers

Christy Carlson Romano just spilled some major behind-the-scenes movie tea, revealing that she had an audition for the lead role in The Princess Diaries but producers of the Disney sitcom Even Stevens, on which she starred from 2000 to 2003 with Shia LaBeouf, made her miss the audition. In a video posted to her YouTube channel, the Disney Channel alum recalled the experience.

“It is almost time for me to leave to go get ready for the audition, and I get called in by the producers and they say, ‘Christy, we don’t have time for you to go to the audition today,’” Romano said. “At the time, you couldn’t just put yourself on tape… so if you didn’t show up for the audition, chances are you weren’t gonna get an opportunity. And this was a big one.”

She continued, “It was a big chance, and unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance… I wanted to do this audition so badly. I don’t know why, but I just knew it could be a big deal for me. I didn’t get that audition. I didn’t get to go because we had to film overtime or something like that. So, sadly, I never got my shot at that.”

She even said that she believes The Princess Diaries “would have made my career if I would have got it.” The 2001 coming-of-age comedy based on a young adult novel of the same name grossed more than $165 million worldwide, spawned a 2004 sequel and launched Anne Hathaway into the spotlight. Hathaway eventually even went on to win an Oscar in 2013.

Romano made sure to compliment Hathaway’s performance, explaining that her story “isn’t to say that [Hathaway] wasn’t the right person for the role. She’s amazing. She was so cute in it, and so charming.” She said that she has met Hathaway multiple times and that her interactions with her have been “all positive.”

“It’s not fair to pit women against each other,” Romano said in the video. “I think we can all support one another… Just because [Hathaway] looks like me doesn’t mean we’re the same talent. It doesn’t mean that she or I have more or less talent.”

This isn’t the first time Romano has opened up about her career. She has been increasingly candid in recent YouTube videos, including one earlier this summer where she discussed being at odds with LaBeouf when they were young actors on Even Stevens. She also has a video titled “How Katy Perry Got My Record Deal.”