It seems Hilary Duff’s fans aren’t the only ones with lingering questions about one iconic scene from A Cinderella Story.
Recently, Duff sat down with Vanity Fair to rewatch some of the most memorable moments from her acting career.
Among them was her 2004 rom-com A Cinderella Story, in which she starred as Sam opposite Chad Michael Murray’s Austin.
Duff shared that the film stood out to her from the very first read.
“I remember, like, reading the script and just feeling like it was funny,” Duff said in the video. “You read a lot of bad scripts and this one was like… I liked that it was Cinderella but like a modern, kind of normal version.”
Her excitement about the film only grew once the cast came together, particularly with the addition of acting powerhouses Regina King and Jennifer Coolidge.
Duff recalled that Coolidge’s performance as her evil stepmother was so convincing it was genuinely intimidating at times.
“She scared me a little bit,” Duff admitted. “I think, as a teenager, she was so confident and so in character. I wouldn’t say that she was, like, method, because she definitely was, like, normal on set at times, but she would, like, slip into this, and it was just so amazing to watch.”
Duff also addressed one of the film’s most famously debated moments: the scene in which Austin somehow fails to recognize Sam while she’s wearing a small masquerade mask. According to Duff, even her young daughter isn’t buying it.
“My 4-year-old has watched this movie and also picked up on like, how could he not know it’s you in that mask? And I was like, ‘It’s the age-old question, honey,’” she said. “And she’s like, ‘But it’s you. You are right there. I don’t understand. How does he not know?’ I’m like, ‘I know.’”
In the video’s comments, fans were loving the fun look back at Duff’s career.
“literally JUST watched A Cinderella Story the other day so this is PERFECT,” one fan commented.
“So nostalgic 🥹 Hearing Hilary talk about all these iconic moments makes it even more fun to rewatch them,” another added.
