Hilary Duff’s 4-year-old daughter had burning ‘A Cinderella Story’ question

You’re never too young to start critiquing cinema.

Just ask Hilary Duff, who recently introduced her 4-year-old daughter, Mae, to the magic that is A Cinderella Story. And much to her surprise, the young movie fan didn’t hold back her thoughts when it came to a certain, infamous plot point.

“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?'” Duff revealed, while revisiting one of the movie’s iconic ballroom scenes for Vanity Fair. 

Fans of the 2004 film have been pondering this question for two decades. The modern-day reimagining of Cinderella sees protagonist Sam Montgomery arrive at a high school dance wearing a teeny tiny mask over her eyes. The rest of her face remains quite exposed and frankly, very recognizable. 

But clueless love interest Austin Ames (Chad Michael Murray) might as well be staring at a stranger because he doesn’t recognize Sam at all.

“I was like, ‘It’s the age-old question, honey,'” Duff recalled telling her daughter. “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.'”

Duff’s daughter isn’t the first to be baffled by this plot point, though she might be the youngest. It has even reached the point where Denise Wingate, the Emmy-winning costume designer who outfitted Duff with the infamous tiny mask, felt the need to weigh in on the debate, explaining what they were going for with the tiny mask.

“You had to be able to see her eyes, but not to be able to see her too much because the joke was for him to not know it was her,” Wingate said in 2024 of crafting the look. That said, the designer absolutely agrees that Austin’s inability to recognize Sam is insane: “How does he not know?! Isn’t it obvious?!”

Tiny mask aside, Duff shared fond memories of her experience making A Cinderella Story while revisiting scenes from the film.

“I remember reading the script and just feeling like it was funny,” she recalled, pointing out that she’s read her share of “bad scripts” and immediately liked the film’s take on Cinderella. Duff added that after she signed on, the growing all-star cast made the film even more appealing.

“Regina King was cast, which obviously was super exciting. She’s so amazing,” Duff gished. “And Jennifer Coolidge. And obviously Chad Michael Murray. I think everyone had a crush on him, and then he went off to film fricking One Tree Hill and was still hot. I was like, ‘I did a movie with him!'”

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Now a mother of four, Duff welcomed her first child, son Luca Cruz, in 2012 with her then-husband Mike Comrie. The couple officially split in 2016. She later met and married Matthew Koma, with whom she has since welcomed three daughters: Banks Violet in 2018, Mae James in 2021, and Townes in 2024.