Hilary Duff recently shared her experiences with a co-star whose dedication to their role left her feeling uneasy during the production of a film.
During an interview with *Variety*, the 38-year-old actress discussed her experience filming a movie at the age of 15.
Duff, widely recognized for her portrayal of Lizzie McGuire, mentioned that her co-star became so immersed in their role that she frequently had to remind herself they were just acting.
She detailed that the character played by her co-star was supposed to have a contentious relationship with Duff’s character, necessitating a certain level of meanness as part of the performance.
Acting, especially at a young age, can be quite an unusual profession. You might meet someone for the first time and soon find yourself involved in emotionally intense scenes or exchanging harsh words as part of an adversarial relationship.
In Duff’s situation, it was Jennifer Coolidge who played the role of her wicked stepmother in *A Cinderella Story*, which was filmed when Duff was only 15.
Duff expressed her admiration for Coolidge’s career trajectory, stating: “It’s been so much fun to watch her career because she just goes there in such a big way that it was really impressive and slightly intimidating as like a teenager.”
She elaborated: “She was, like, mean to me, so it was a little scary ’cause I was only 15 and she was just, you know, mean to me cause she’s my evil stepmother.
“At the time, I think I had to be like, ‘You’re filming a movie. You’re filming a movie.’”
This commitment must have been very convincing!
Coolidge has since achieved success with her role in *The White Lotus*, and Duff admits to being ‘obsessed’ with her latest work.
“I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’ve just been, like, obsessed with this past year for Jennifer Coolidge,” Duff revealed. “It’s been really cool to see.”
Duff also reminisced about a particularly memorable scene where Coolidge’s character performed an unusual beauty treatment using raw salmon.
“My favorite moment was her rubbing salmon on her face while filming *A Cinderella Story* and talking about the omegas,” Duff said.
“My son actually started eating sushi when he was like 3 and had a similar moment, and I looked and I was like, ‘You’re just rubbing raw salmon on your face.’
“And it’s, like, soft and he liked it, then it reminded me of her. She’s just everything.”