Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress and singer. Born in Brooklyn, New York and brought up in Millburn, New Jersey, Hathaway was inspired to act by her mother and as a high school student was nominated for the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Award for Best Performance by a High School Actress for her performance in Once Upon a Mattress. She made her professional screen debut in the short-lived Fox television series Get Real (1999–2000), before landing the lead role of Mia Thermopolis in the Disney comedy film The Princess Diaries (2001), for which she won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress – Comedy. Hathaway went on to become a widely praised “role model for children” for her roles in Nicholas Nickleby (2002), Ella Enchanted (2004), The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), and Hoodwinked! (2005).