Surrounded by "A Cinderella Story" cast members, including Jennifer Coolidge (Duff's wicked stepmother in the film), Hilary made her way down a sparkling pink carpet, pausing to answer questions from the press, before taking in a special screening of the modernized Cinderella tale.
INTERVIEW WITH HILARY DUFF ('Sam'):
Does attending movie premieres ever get any easier?
I’m really excited. You always just get nervous like, “What if nobody likes it?” I’m really happy that people are supporting it and stuff.
What makes this take on the Cinderella tale special?
It has a lot in it for everyone. The characters are really cool and there’s twists in the movie that aren’t in any other Cinderella stories. My character is a very motivated girl who really goes after what she wants and I think that’s a good lesson.
Does kissing your onscreen love interest make you nervous?
I’m not sure if I was nervous. I kissed Frankie Muniz in “Agent Cody Banks” and it wasn’t quite as big of a kiss, but I think it was with more awkward than anything. There was a bleacher-full of people and like a 72 person crew. It was a little crazy but Chad [Michael Murray] made me feel really comfortable. And we just were kind of like, “Okay, we have to do this. Let’s just ignore everybody and have fun and go for it.” And that’s what we did and it worked.
And it’s not exactly a tough job to kiss Chad.
No, not bad at all. He’s okay (laughing).
What about an offscreen boyfriend? Anyone special at this time?
No, not really. I hear stories about myself all the time that I do, but I don’t think that’s true because I don’t know anything about it.
Is it tough hearing stories about yourself that aren't true and getting chased by the paparazzi wherever you go?
Definitely. It gets really hard. I can’t go to my favorite shopping places that I want to go to because they take pictures of me, which is fine. But then for them to like follow my car all day long and then for them to try and find out where I live and be waiting outside my house – it gets really hard sometimes and it’s really an invasion of privacy, you know? I get so little time off it’s tough.
We’ve all heard the Cinderella story before, but there is a strong message in this movie. Was getting a positive message out there for girls important to you?
I feel like it was really important. I read the script and I was really excited that it was really such a positive message and that every other Cinderella movie, the girl just kind of sits back and waits for everything to fall into place for her. In this one, she really goes out and even though she’s the underdog, she has dreams and she conquers them in the end. And I think that’s a good message for girls.
INTERVIEW WITH JENNIFER COOLIDGE ('Fiona'):
How much fun was it to play the wicked stepmom?
There was so much makeup involved that I had to be there so much earlier than everyone else. They had to put like blue eyes in and really there was like 5 inches of makeup on me – it was really unattractive. It was such a fun film to make and it was really easy. It was close to my house and it was a really short ride in the morning (laughing). I never get to play the mean lady, they never ask me to do that. I’m always like the fat best friend.
And next up you've got the "Friends" spinoff, "Joey." What's your role and how did you get involved with the series?
[I play] Joey’s new agent. I’m very excited. I love the cast and Matt LeBlanc’s just a doll. We all love him. I did it as kind of a guest star thing. They called me and said, “Just come in and play the scene,” and I didn’t really know what the character was or anything. It was just supposed to be a one-shot deal in the pilot and then it turned into more, which is really nice.
ADDITIONAL INTERVIEWS FROM THE WORLD PREMIERE OF "A CINDERELLA STORY:"
Director Mark Rosman & Producer Clifford Werber / Madeline Zima & Simon Helburg / Brad Bufanda & Kady Cole
Special Premiere Guests: Jason Ritter / Brie Larson / Courtney & Ashley Peldon
