40 Fun Facts About A Cinderella Story

In A Cinderella Story, what does Sam drop at the dance in place of the traditional glass slipper?

Her cell phone is the modern slipper: Austin picks it up after she runs out before midnight, and he only hands it back at the very end of the film.

Which future pop star plays aspiring dancer Mary Santiago in the sequel Another Cinderella Story?

Selena Gomez made the film while starring in Wizards of Waverly Place, and the role won her a Young Artist Award.

Which Disney Channel series had made Hilary Duff a teen idol before she starred in A Cinderella Story?

Lizzie McGuire ran from 2001 to 2004 and spawned its own feature film a year before Duff played Sam.

In A Cinderella Story, what kind of disaster kills Sam's father and leaves her with stepmother Fiona?

An earthquake is the cause, and the film names a real one: the 1994 Northridge quake that shook Los Angeles.

Which Ivy League university do Sam and her secret pen pal both dream of attending in A Cinderella Story?

Princeton is the shared dream, and the film ends with Sam and Austin driving there together.

Which comic actress won a Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Sleazebag as stepmother Fiona in A Cinderella Story?

Jennifer Coolidge was already famous as Stifler's mom in American Pie, and she later won two Emmys for The White Lotus.

At which school event do Sam and her anonymous pen pal finally meet in A Cinderella Story?

A Halloween dance gives the story its masks: Sam arrives in costume as Cinderella, so Austin spends the night with her without seeing her face.

Which teen heartthrob plays popular jock Austin Ames opposite Hilary Duff in A Cinderella Story?

Chad Michael Murray had just begun playing Lucas Scott on One Tree Hill, which debuted in September 2003, ten months before the film opened.

In A Cinderella Story, what does diner manager Rhonda lend Sam to wear to the school dance?

A wedding dress Rhonda had saved becomes the ball gown, and the mask she adds is why Austin dances with Sam without knowing who she is.

Which pair of names belong to Sam's two stepsisters in the Hilary Duff film A Cinderella Story?

Brianna and Gabriella are the pair, and they end the film working at the diner beside their mother to pay Sam back.

In A Cinderella Story, what screen name does Austin Ames use when emailing his secret pen pal Sam?

Nomad is the name he hides behind, and at the dance he reveals it to Sam before he has any idea who she is.

Which long-running weather problem finally ends as Sam and Austin share their first kiss in A Cinderella Story?

A drought has dried out the Valley for the whole film, so the rain that starts falling as they kiss at the homecoming game is the story's touch of magic.

At which school event do the head cheerleader and Sam's stepsisters stage a skit exposing Sam in A Cinderella Story?

A pep rally is where they act out her private emails in front of the whole school, and Austin says nothing in her defence.

What does stepmother Fiona forge to crush Sam's college hopes in A Cinderella Story?

A rejection letter is her fake, written after she intercepts the real acceptance, which her daughters later fish out of the trash.

Where does Sam find her late father's hidden will near the end of A Cinderella Story?

In her fairy-tale book from childhood, the will proves her father left her everything, including the house and the diner, and Fiona had signed it as a witness.

Which position does Austin Ames play on his high school football team in A Cinderella Story?

Quarterback is his role, and in the homecoming game he hands the team to a teammate before the last play so he can run after Sam.

What career does Austin Ames secretly want in A Cinderella Story, against his father's football plans for him?

A writer is what he hopes to be, which is why he applies to an Ivy League school in secret instead of taking the USC football path his father expects.

Which head cheerleader is Austin's girlfriend at the start of A Cinderella Story and leads the popular clique?

Shelby is played by Julie Gonzalo, and she refuses to accept that Austin has broken up with her before the dance.

What falls off the diner wall and uncovers a hidden mural of her father's motto in A Cinderella Story?

A clock crashes down when the stepsisters slam the diner door, and the saying it uncovers pushes Sam to quit her job and move out.

What does Sam sell to pay for college after inheriting her father's estate in A Cinderella Story?

Her stepfamily's cars are sold off once the will names her the rightful owner, while Fiona is arrested and ends up working at the diner.

Which future Oscar winner plays Rhonda, the diner manager who looks after Sam in A Cinderella Story?

Regina King won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), long after serving as Sam's stand-in fairy godmother.

Which actor, later Travis in the sitcom Cougar Town, plays Sam's best friend Carter in A Cinderella Story?

Dan Byrd plays Carter as a would-be method actor, and he went on to roles in Easy A and Young Sheldon.

Which future star of The Big Bang Theory has a small role as Terry in A Cinderella Story?

Simon Helberg appeared three years before he was cast as engineer Howard Wolowitz, the part he played from 2007 to 2019.

Which former child star of The Nanny plays one of Sam's stepsisters in A Cinderella Story?

Madeline Zima spent six seasons as Grace Sheffield on the sitcom, and later played Mia Lewis in Californication.

Which director made A Cinderella Story and then reunited with Hilary Duff for The Perfect Man?

Mark Rosman had first worked with Duff on episodes of her Disney Channel sitcom, so the two films were their second and third projects together.

Which Hollywood studio released A Cinderella Story in cinemas and owns the film series it started?

Warner Bros. opened it on July 16, 2004, even though its star was best known at the time for her work with Disney.

Which famous American film critic panned A Cinderella Story and said its studio was spending a fortune to sell it?

Roger Ebert was one of many critics who disliked it, yet cinema audiences polled by CinemaScore graded the film A-minus.

Which sci-fi film opened on the same day as A Cinderella Story and topped that weekend's box office?

I, Robot took $52.2 million that weekend, leaving A Cinderella Story in fourth place behind Spider-Man 2 and Anchorman as well.

Hilary Duff won a Teen Choice Award for A Cinderella Story in which oddly named movie category?

Choice Movie Blush Scene went to Duff for the moment Sam is humiliated in front of the school, while the film's Liplock and Chemistry nominations lost.

Which ceremony named Hilary Duff Favorite Movie Actress in 2005 for playing Sam in A Cinderella Story?

Kids' Choice Awards voters gave Duff the Nickelodeon prize in the same season that the Razzies nominated her for Worst Actress.

Which band's hit Our Lips Are Sealed did Hilary Duff and her sister Haylie cover for A Cinderella Story?

The Go-Go's first recorded it in 1981, and the Duff sisters' version was the only single released from the film's soundtrack.

Which singer's debut single Beautiful Soul appears in a special Cinderella mix on the A Cinderella Story soundtrack?

Jesse McCartney has two tracks on the album, which came out two months before Beautiful Soul was issued as a single and climbed into the US top 20.

Which songwriting great wrote To Make You Feel My Love, sung by Josh Kelley on the A Cinderella Story soundtrack?

Bob Dylan wrote it for his 1997 album Time Out of Mind, though Billy Joel's recording reached shops a month before Dylan's own.

In Another Cinderella Story, which gadget does Mary drop while racing home from the masquerade ball?

A Zune stands in for the glass slipper, and pop star Joey asks students to name its four most-played songs to find its owner.

Which comic actress plays washed-up pop star Dominique Blatt, Mary's guardian, in Another Cinderella Story?

Jane Lynch played her a year before breaking through as Sue Sylvester in Glee, and the character ends the film with both legs broken.

Which Pretty Little Liars star plays aspiring singer Katie Gibbs in A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song?

Lucy Hale made the film during her run as Aria Montgomery, a character who happens to share a surname with Sam from the original.

Which Descendants star plays Tessa, who auditions in disguise, in A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits?

Sofia Carson had broken through as Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen, a year before taking the lead in the fourth film of the series.

How were the sequels to A Cinderella Story released, unlike the original film, which played in cinemas?

Direct to video was the route for every follow-up, and none of them carried over a single character from the first film.

Which singer behind Troy's vocals in High School Musical plays pop star Joey Parker in Another Cinderella Story?

Drew Seeley sang parts of Troy Bolton's songs in the first film, with some tracks blending his voice with Zac Efron's, and he replaced Efron on the concert tour.

Which cable channel gave Another Cinderella Story its television premiere four months after its DVD release?

ABC Family first aired it in January 2009 and went on to premiere the third film in the series as well.