Hilary Duff Admits She Was Scared of Fellow A-List Star During Filming: “She Was Mean To Me”

Hilary Duff has revealed that she felt intimidated by Jennifer Coolidge while filming the 2004 teen movie A Cinderella Story.

The “Lizzie McGuire” star shared her memories of working with Coolidge, who played the wicked stepmother Fiona in the modern version of the classic fairy tale.

“By the way, it’s just so much fun to watch her career,” Duff, 38, said of Coolidge. “She just goes there in such a big way that it was really impressive and slightly intimidating as a teenager.”

Duff, who was 15 at the time, admitted that Coolidge stayed in character on set and was strict toward her, which made the experience a bit frightening.

“And she was mean to me, so it was a little scary, ’cause I was only like 15 and she was just, you know, mean to me ’cause she’s my evil stepmother,” she said.

The actress explained that Coolidge’s commitment to the role was so strong that it made her take deep breaths to calm herself. “At the time, I was like … I had to be like, ‘You’re filming a movie. You’re filming a movie,’” Duff recalled.

A Cinderella Story was directed by Mark Rosman and written by Leigh Dunlap. The film also starred Chad Michael Murray and Regina King. It tells the story of two internet pen pals planning to meet in person at their high school Halloween dance. Released on July 16, 2004, the movie made $70.1 million worldwide on a $19 million budget and inspired several straight-to-video spin-offs. Over time, it has gained a cult following.

Critics were less impressed. The film holds an 11% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 25 out of 100 on Metacritic. Despite mixed reviews, audiences gave it an A− on CinemaScore. In 2010, Time even listed it as one of the top 10 worst chick flicks ever made.

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