Summary
- A Cinderella Story utilized beautiful filming locations to tell its fairytale-inspired story, including a Tudor-style home, castle-like lobby, and cottage-esque house.
- A Cinderella Story‘s diner scenes were filmed at George’s 50’s Diner in Long Beach, California, with a pink renovation by Sam’s step-mother.
- The high school scenes, including the iconic rain kiss, were shot at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, California. Andy’s Car Wash scenes were filmed at Jerzy Boy’z Car Wash in San Pedro, California.
A Cinderella Story, starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray, utilized some beautiful filming locations to tell its fairytale-inspired story. The movie featured a pre-White Lotus Jennifer Coolidge, and it helped Duff transition out of her Disney Channel role and onto the big screen for a non-Lizzie McGuire feature film. As a fairly new young star who appealed to both children and teens, Duff was the perfect actress to play the movie’s lead character, Sam Montgomery.
For a movie based on an iconic fairytale, the filming locations were crucial to telling the modernized story. From Sam’s Tudor-style home, where she lives with her stepmother Fiona and her two step-sisters Brianna and Gabriella, to the castle-like lobby where Sam’s school hosted the dance, A Cinderella Story has some memorable backdrops. While its setting isn’t as magical as Walt Disney’s animated Cinderella, there are still some incredible landscapes in A Cinderella Story.
The Diner Scenes Were Filmed In Long Beach, California
One of the most essential locations in A Cinderella Story is the diner, as it’s the place where Sam finally stands up to Fiona at the end of the film. Before Sam’s father, Hal, dies in the Northridge Earthquake, he owns a diner called Hal’s Diner. Sam is very close with the staff, especially Regina King’s Rhonda, who acts as her fairy godmother throughout the movie.
Unfortunately, when Hal dies, Fiona takes over, renames it Fiona’s, and gives it a very pink renovation. She even covers up a famous Babe Ruth quote on the wall with her pink wallpaper. The real diner looks different from Hal’s and Fiona’s. According to IMDb, it’s called George’s 50’s Diner and is located at 4390 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California.
Sam’s House Is In St Altadena, California
Sam’s house is another important setting in A Cinderella Story. While Sam finds her father’s will at the end of A Cinderella Story, Fiona initially hides it so that everything he owned will go to her instead of Sam. This means Hal’s humble home goes to Fiona, and she can do whatever she wants with it.
The home has a very cottage-like appearance, making it an ideal fit for a film based on a fairytale. While Hal’s version of the house is much more laidback, Fiona’s renovation includes pink shutters and other pink details on the front of the home, including three flamingos by the front door. The real home looks a lot more like Hal’s design and is located in St. Altadena, California.
Fiona & Hal Got Married At City Hall
A pretty minor location appears at the beginning of A Cinderella Story, as a montage reveals how Fiona and Hal met and fell in love. During a quick shot of Fiona and Hal getting married, a photographer prepares to take a family picture, and Fiona purposely drops her bouquet, knowing Sam will lean over to pick it up and be cut out of the photo. The wedding scene was filmed at City Hall at 100 N. Garfield Avenue in Pasadena, California.
North Valley High Was Filmed In Monrovia, California
At Sam’s high school, North Valley High, she’s unsurprisingly an outcast. She has one best friend named Carter and a secret pen pal who happens to be Austin Ames, the most popular guy in school. Unfortunately, he has a girlfriend named Shelby Cummings, who, as Sam suggests in the film, barely even knows who she is.
Scenes like Sam losing a parking spot in her old blue Mustang and nearly colliding with Austin’s black Mercedes G Wagon were filmed at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, California. The high school was also the location used for Austin to host his search for Cinderella, and it’s where Carter confesses that he’s the guy Shelby unknowingly kissed at the dance. Most importantly, the iconic scene where Austin and Sam share a kiss in the rain was also shot on Monrovia High School’s football field.
Andy’s Car Wash Was Filmed In San Pedro, California
While Austin hopes to become a writer and pursue his dreams at Princeton University with Sam, she’s the only one he can talk about such things with. At home, his father thinks he’s going to play football in college and take over the family car wash business. While still in high school, Austin works at the car wash, and one of A Cinderella Story‘s funniest scenes takes place there.
While Brianna and Gabriella are fighting with each other for Austin’s attention and trying to prove that one of them is the girl Austin met at the school dance, they chase each other into the car wash. They come out covered in soap, hot wax, and with their hair standing straight up. The real car wash is called Jerzy Boy’z Car Wash and is located at 777 Miraflores Avenue in San Pedro, California.
The Dance Was Filmed In San Marino and Los Angeles, California
The moment A Cinderella Story shifts is when Sam arrives at the homecoming costume party dressed as Cinderella and discovers out her pen pal is Austin. At the dance, Sam walks down a staircase in an elegant white ballgown and a white lace mask. The scene is truly one of the best character outfit reveals from a 2000s rom-com, and the background elevates Sam’s entrance.
Sam later meets Austin on the dance floor but spends most of her time getting to know him outside before the two share a dance in the lit-up gazebo. The interior and exterior dance scenes were actually filmed in different locations. The exteriors were shot at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. Meanwhile, movie-locations.com states the interiors were shot in the lobby of the Los Angelos Theatre located at 615 South Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.
The Valley Overlook Was Filmed In Los Angeles, California
The San Fernando Valley is a special place for Sam, as she has so many fond memories with her dad there. At the start of A Cinderella Story, Sam mentions that the valley was her kingdom when she was growing up. There is a scene where she is sitting with her father on the hood of his blue Mustang, looking out at the valley. At the end of the film, Sam mirrors this moment with Austin.
The two visit the same location as Austin gives Sam back her phone, which she lost at the dance, while sitting on the hood of the same Mustang. MovieMaps states these scenes were filmed at Autry Overlook at 8601 Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles, California. The final scene in A Cinderella Story sees Sam and Austin driving away from the overlook in her Mustang, the same way Cinderella and Prince Charming ride off in a carriage at the end of Disney’s Cinderella.
Source: IMDb, movie-locations.com, MovieMaps
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
