From Lizzie McGuire to How I Met Your Father, see Hilary Duff’s transformation through the years
HILARY Duff’s name is often synonymous with the picture-perfect Disney kid, as she seems to be one of the few former early 2000s teen stars that escaped their transitional years to adulthood without some sort of serious controversy.
The Texas-born actress has gone on to build quite the resume following her Disney days and is still consistently adding to it.
From sweet, relatable Lizzie McGuire to a 20-something searching for love on How I Met Your Father, here is Hilary Duff's transformation.
HILARY DUFF TAKES THE LEAD
1998
Hilary seemed to be a natural from the start.
Her second credit on IMDb is for the leading role in 1998’s Casper Meets Wendy, which put her on the radar as a budding actress.
In fact, while on the set of the film, her 11-year-old self told she thought acting was “not hard at all.”
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STEALING THE HEARTS OF MILLIONS
2001
Although Hilary claimed she the audition for Lizzie McGuire, she won the role of the Disney Channel series’ titular character and from that point on, she was a bonafide star.
The show, which followed the clumsy-yet-relatable Lizzie McGuire as she navigated her way through middle school, premiered on Disney Channel in 2001.
In a January interview with , she recalled how quickly the show changed her life.
“I remember meeting friends at the mall the day the show came out, and being mobbed by people.
“Someone who worked at the mall stuffed me in the closet and said: ‘You need to call your mom,’” she said.
The show lasted for just two seasons, but it had a huge impact on fans over its run on Disney Channel.
HILARY SOLIDIFIES HER SPOT AS A TEEN SENSATION
2003
Hilary kept herself super busy with work while acting on Disney Channel, cashing in on her newfound fame and subsequent opportunities.
Starting with Cadet Kelly in 2002, Hilary starred in a long string of pre-teen and teenage flicks, including Cheaper by the Dozen and the iconic A Cinderella Story, in which she starred opposite of Chad Michael Murray.
Not only did her acting career completely flourish, Hilary simultaneously recorded her debut album, Metamorphosis, which reached the top of the charts in 2003, according to .
Her self-titled sophomore album, released in 2004, hit the No. 2 spot on the Billboard charts, while her third album, Most Wanted, grabbed another No. 1 ranking for the teen star.
In a documenting the making of her first album, Hilary said jumping into the music scene was “a big change” for her.
“It’s a big change for everybody else, also,” she noted.
“A lot of people know me as characters and stuff that I play on TV and it’s really personal.
“And it’s a good way for everybody to get to know about Hilary.”
ALL EYES ON HILARY
2005
The general consensus is that Hilary came out of her teen stardom years unscathed, which might be due to her unrelenting protection of her reputation.
In a 2015 interview with Cosmpolitan (via ), the star admitted to ending friendships as a teen if her pals started acting out and making irresponsible choices.
“That was really hard, to sit down with people and say: ‘We can't be friends anymore,’” she recalled.
“But having a good reputation was important to me.”
Despite her clean record, she didn’t avoid the gossip pages altogether.
As it often goes with celebrities, her love life was picked apart by tabloids and fans wanting to know every detail of her life.
Almost any person who grew up in the era of Hilary’s Disney days will recall the head-turning reports that her on-and-off boyfriend of two years, Aaron Carter, cheated on her with fellow teen sensation Lindsay Lohan in 2003.
“I started dating Hilary on my 13th birthday,” Aaron said, addressing the gossip in an interview with CNBC in 2005 (via ).
“I was dating her for like a year-and-a-half and then I just got a little bored so I went and I started getting to know Lindsay, dating Lindsay.”
However, Hilary’s heart seemed to be pieced back together by Good Charlotte Rocker Joel Madden.
While the relationship seemed to be healthy, people were not impressed by their eight-year age gap, as Hilary was just 16-years-old and dating a 24-year-old.
It’s no secret that having your life picked apart by the public eye can be intense, and Hilary certainly felt it.
She lost a noticeable amount of weight during her two-year romance with Joel, which she addressed in a 2015 interview with magazine.
“When I was 17, I weighed, like, 98 pounds.
“I was totally obsessed with everything I put in my mouth,” she recalled.
“And my body wasn't that healthy — my hands would cramp up a lot because I wasn't getting the nutrition I needed.
“That constant pressure of wanting something different than I had? I regret that.”
HILARY FALLS IN LOVE
2010
Between 2005 and 2010, Hilary added quite a few more lines to her resume, such as the film Material Girls, in which she starred opposite of her sister, Haylie Duff, and recurring roles in The Chase and Gossip Girl.
In addition, she dropped her fourth studio album, Dignity, but it did not have as much success as her first three records.
She also released her first novel, Elixir, in 2010, which hit the and was followed by two sequels.
Furthermore, she became a wife in 2010 at the age of 22 when she tied the knot with NHL player Mike Comrie after dating for about three years.
Two years later, they had their first and only child together, Luca Cruz Comrie.
Unfortunately, reports of a rocky marriage circulated and after 18 months of marriage counseling, Hilary and Mike called it quits and separated in 2016.
At the time, reported that Hilary felt Mike wasn’t putting enough effort into their relationship.
"The spark was no longer there. They are better as friends," the source added.
HILARY IS BACK
2015
Hilary seemed to lighten her workload after she got married and had Luca, but as her marriage ended, she began diving headfirst back into work.
She returned to music in 2015, releasing Breathe In. Breathe Out., her first studio album in eight years.
Multiple tracks seemed to address a broken relationship, such as Tattoo, on which she collaborated with Ed Sheeran.
Speaking to about her new music, she said she knew it was time to record again because she finally felt like she “had something to say.”
Plus, in 2015, she landed a role in TV Land’s Younger, a show that follows Liza (Sutton Foster), a newly divorced mom pretending to be 15 years younger in an attempt to revive her publishing career.
The show would go on to be a hit and film seven seasons.
HILARY MEETS HER MATCH
2019
Despite previously saying she did not to get married again, music producer and Winnetka Bowling League frontman Matthew Koma changed Hilary's mind.
The pair met when she was recording Breathe In. Breathe Out, and the rest, as they say, is history.
The two welcomed a baby girl, Banks Violet Blair, in October 2018 and they got engaged the following year.
They made their union official in December 2019 in an intimate surprise ceremony held in their Los Angeles home’s backyard.
Just over a year later in 2021, they welcomed their second child together, a girl, named Mae James Blair, into the world.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN
2020
2019 was an exciting year for Hilary Duff personally and professionally.
Not only did she get married, but she signed a deal with Disney+ to reboot the show that turned her into a household name, Lizzie McGuire.
Unfortunately, fans only got to see a glimpse of Lizzie through a few photos Hilary shared on Instagram, because the reboot was postponed, and later completely scrapped, in 2020.
The reboot was canceled because Hilary and the show creators had a different vision for Lizzie’s character, leading to the show’s demise.
In a statement she to Instagram, she wrote:
“I know the efforts and conversations have been everything trying to make a reboot work, but sadly [and] despite everyone’s best efforts, it isn’t going to happen.
“I want any reboot of Lizzie to be honest and authentic to who Lizzie would be today.
“It’s what the character deserves.
“We can all take a moment to mourn the amazing woman she would have been and the adventures we would have taken with her.”
She ended the note with a joke about the ongoing pandemic.
“I’m very sad, but I promise everyone tried their best and the stars just didn’t align.
“Hey now, this is what 2020’s made of,” she quipped.
Fans were thrilled at the prospect of Hulu picking up the reboot, but so far, Lizzie has not been resurrected.
STILL WORKING HARD
2022
While Hilary was out of a job with Disney+, her fans were delighted to hear that she scored a starring role and a producing spot on the gender-flipped How I Met Your Mother spinoff, How I Met Your Father.
The show follows Hilary’s character, Sophie, and her close-knit group of friends in their 20s figuring out life in New York City – a similar plotline to what Lizzie McGuire was doing in the reboot.
However, landing yet another TV gig isn’t the only thing Hilary has up her sleeves.
In an interview with , she admitted she’s thinking about returning to music, which sent fans into an excited frenzy.
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“If I were to make a record, it would have to be: What do I think is cool and what makes me happy?” she explained.
“Lizzie is a little bit like that.”
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