Hilary Duff: Being Lizzie McGuire Was "Torturous"
In a recent interview with LGBT publication PrideSource, Hilary Duff, now 27, opened up about a lot of things, including what it was like to transition from a teen star to an adult actress, and her thoughts on Miley Cyrus. Hilary returned to television with her TV Land series Younger, which premiered in March, and her interview with PrideSource was to promote her latest album, Breathe In Breathe Out. It's her first album since Dignity, released eight years ago - a break that was crucial to her well-being.
Hilary arrives at Good Morning America, June 2015
"I don't know what it's like to be a totally normal girl who doesn't give a f--- about anything," Hilary told PrideSource. Her Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire was an instant hit from its 2001 premiere, launching Hilary, then age 14, to teen idol status. Although it ran for only two seasons, it spawned spinoffs, merchandising, a theatrical movie, and Hilary did a flurry of other Disney projects during that time.
Hilary: "As torturous as it has been at some points in my life to be Lizzie McGuire, I think that when that show came out, it was such a part of who I was, I didn't feel like I was playing a part. The writers all knew me so well and were writing things that were happening in my life and things that I would say, and I was dressing exactly like I wanted. It was so me."
Disney Days: Hilary at the premiere of Agent Cody Banks, March 2003
There are haters who are eager to watch child stars crash and burn, but there are also many fans who care about them and want to see them succeed as adults - but does that concern create pressure on young actors to transition into adult ones? It's an incredibly difficult task to be saddled with, and some former child stars might prefer to simply not try it, but to go into something different as adults.
Hilary: "Instead of me trying to calculate how to do it and how to be successful at it - a lot of people chose different ways than I did, like Lindsay Lohan and the Olsen twins and even Miley Cyrus - I just chose to bow out for a minute. It was scary, because there was no guarantee that my career was still gonna be there. But I really needed it personally. I grew up in the spotlight and on tour and with everyone just knowing me and knowing me a certain way. At some point I was like, 'I don't even know if I'm that person anymore, and I don't even have the time to figure that out.' I was like, 'I'm done. I don't enjoy this anymore. I'm not who I wanna be.'"
So Hilary has mixed feelings about Lizzie McGuire, but she had nothing but praise for fellow former Disney Channel starlet Miley Cyrus, now 22: "I look at someone like Miley, and as crazy as people might think the whole thing is, I commend her. She's so wholeheartedly being herself and is unapologetic about that and she's doing a great job. As much as people wanna hate on her for wearing this or doing that or whatever it is people hate on her for, I think she gets the last laugh. At the end of the day, her talent backs it all up. I don't always relate to everything that she's doing, but I love that she's unapologetically herself."
Hilary and Miley together at the Spirit of Life Awards dinner, September 2007
Several teen actresses working today (for example, Rowan Blanchard, also of Disney Channel) were born during Hilary's Lizzie McGuire heyday. To them, Hilary says: "It's a really hard road, to be honest. To make a transition from that is... I feel like even more so now than it was, your youth is totally taken away. You see these girls dressing like they're 20 when they're 14. With Instagram and all this - it's a youth-sucker. Being 14 in 2015 is intense. I don't know what I would've been like if I had all those outlets to pay attention to and all that babble s---. It's kind of scary. It scares me raising my kid."
Hilary arrives at Good Morning America, June 2015
"I don't know what it's like to be a totally normal girl who doesn't give a f--- about anything," Hilary told PrideSource. Her Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire was an instant hit from its 2001 premiere, launching Hilary, then age 14, to teen idol status. Although it ran for only two seasons, it spawned spinoffs, merchandising, a theatrical movie, and Hilary did a flurry of other Disney projects during that time.
Hilary: "As torturous as it has been at some points in my life to be Lizzie McGuire, I think that when that show came out, it was such a part of who I was, I didn't feel like I was playing a part. The writers all knew me so well and were writing things that were happening in my life and things that I would say, and I was dressing exactly like I wanted. It was so me."
Disney Days: Hilary at the premiere of Agent Cody Banks, March 2003
There are haters who are eager to watch child stars crash and burn, but there are also many fans who care about them and want to see them succeed as adults - but does that concern create pressure on young actors to transition into adult ones? It's an incredibly difficult task to be saddled with, and some former child stars might prefer to simply not try it, but to go into something different as adults.
Hilary: "Instead of me trying to calculate how to do it and how to be successful at it - a lot of people chose different ways than I did, like Lindsay Lohan and the Olsen twins and even Miley Cyrus - I just chose to bow out for a minute. It was scary, because there was no guarantee that my career was still gonna be there. But I really needed it personally. I grew up in the spotlight and on tour and with everyone just knowing me and knowing me a certain way. At some point I was like, 'I don't even know if I'm that person anymore, and I don't even have the time to figure that out.' I was like, 'I'm done. I don't enjoy this anymore. I'm not who I wanna be.'"
So Hilary has mixed feelings about Lizzie McGuire, but she had nothing but praise for fellow former Disney Channel starlet Miley Cyrus, now 22: "I look at someone like Miley, and as crazy as people might think the whole thing is, I commend her. She's so wholeheartedly being herself and is unapologetic about that and she's doing a great job. As much as people wanna hate on her for wearing this or doing that or whatever it is people hate on her for, I think she gets the last laugh. At the end of the day, her talent backs it all up. I don't always relate to everything that she's doing, but I love that she's unapologetically herself."
Hilary and Miley together at the Spirit of Life Awards dinner, September 2007
Several teen actresses working today (for example, Rowan Blanchard, also of Disney Channel) were born during Hilary's Lizzie McGuire heyday. To them, Hilary says: "It's a really hard road, to be honest. To make a transition from that is... I feel like even more so now than it was, your youth is totally taken away. You see these girls dressing like they're 20 when they're 14. With Instagram and all this - it's a youth-sucker. Being 14 in 2015 is intense. I don't know what I would've been like if I had all those outlets to pay attention to and all that babble s---. It's kind of scary. It scares me raising my kid."