We fell in love with Hilary Duff as an awkward preteen on Lizzie McGuire, but when the hit
TV series ended, the relatable star seemed to disappear from the spotlight.
Sure, there was the occasional tween movie and a guest spot on Law and Order: SVU, but
that's nothing compared to her Disney days.
So what has Duff been doing?
We've got the dish.
Mommy time
In March 2012, Duff and then-husband Mike Comrie welcomed a son, Luca.
A 24-year-old Duff tweeted the great news:
"Wow I can't believe I have a baby!"
But the glow of new motherhood faded a bit when Duff realized the effect that being a
young mom can have a Hollywood career.
"I feel like I was judged for having a baby too soon, and getting married too soon, and
now I'm pigeonholed for being, like, a 'mom.'"
Duff explained to Entertainment Tonight that while being a mother is wonderful, it's also,
quote, "very isolating."
"You put so much pressure on yourself, and it's really kind of a lonely place to be,
so I think women and families need to boost each other up instead of, you know, bully
one another."
In order to manage her stardom and motherhood, Duff now says she has no problem taking breaks
from Tinseltown.
Speaking with Redbook in 2017, she said,
"I'm not working right now, and at first I stressed about that, like, 'Oh, I shouldn't
stay still this long.'
And that's ridiculous.
I have a child; it's totally fine to not be slammed all the time.
It feels really good to not be on someone else's schedule — besides Luca's.
I'm basically his chauffeur!"
In the studio
In the early 2000s, Duff's singing career took off.
Her albums Metamorphosis and Most Wanted both climbed to the top of the Billboard 200 chart.
In 2007, her Dignity album reached Number 3 on the chart, but it would be almost a decade
before her next album of new material was released.
Sales of 2015's Breathe In.
Breathe Out. were lackluster compared to her previous efforts.
Duff told Buzzfeed in 2017,
"I don't have any plans for new music or a tour this year.
But there's always next year!"
Mickey moment
Duff found herself on the awkward side of a viral moment when video footage of her unenthusiastically
air-drawing Mickey Mouse ears for a Disney Channel promo hit the web — which possibly
rubbed one or two producers the wrong way.
After the video made the rounds online, Duff opened up about the now-infamous moment to
Buzzfeed:
"They made us do it like 900 times.
And I think I like lost all personality at that point.
Plus, I was, like, a pubescent teen — I was like, 'What are they making me do, this
is invisible!'"
"It's like, Hilary with a lot of attitude."
She was a good sport about it and even re-created the moment for the interview.
"Did I nail it or should I do it again?
One more time?"
Writing novels
In 2011, Duff published a young adult novel called Elixir, which became a New York Times
Bestseller that Duff turned into a trilogy with installments Devoted and True.
She hopes the books will become movies one day, telling MTV News that she wrote the first
book with a cinematic adaptation in mind, adding,
"There have been a few people interested in buying the rights which is very flattering,
but if the right person came along, I'd definitely hope that would happen."
Whoops
In 2016, Duff dressed up as a pilgrim and her then-boyfriend, personal trainer Jason
Walsh, dressed up as a Native American.
Together, they attracted the outrage of the internet.
Duff issued a heartfelt apology, tweeting, in part,
"I am SO sorry to people I offended with my costume."
For Halloween in 2017, Duff decided to go way more low-key, avoiding any big Hollywood
costume parties and opting for just a pair of bunny ears and some drawn-on whiskers.
Helping others
It's clear that one area Duff traded the spotlight willingly for was her philanthropy.
According to Seventeen, Duff has been working with Blessings in a Backpack, an organization
that provides food to American children since 2005.
She started feeding people once she began touring, when the organization USA Harvest
came to her and said,
"You're selling out concerts, like twenty thousand people a night.
If you just ask people to bring one can of food, you know how many people that would
feed?"
Duff also serves as a charter member of Kids with a Cause, an organization that aims to
find solutions for children who suffer from "poverty, lack of education, or health-related
issues."
Public feud
According to Popsugar, the feud between Duff and Lindsay Lohan all started with Duff's
on-again-off-again relationship with pop star Aaron Carter, who initially ditched Duff for
Lohan.
This led to a curiously passive-aggressive girlfight during which Duff and Lohan crashed
each other's movie premieres and shaded each other in interviews.
In 2017, Duff said that she and Lohan have put the feud to rest, telling People,
"We are both adults and whatever happened, happened when we were young.
It's over."
Though Duff avoided the questionable choices Lohan made later in life, it's possible that
back in the early 2000s, Duff lost some business opportunities over her real-life mean girl
image.
TV Land
If you haven't seen anything from Duff, you probably haven't been watching the TV Land
channel, where she's worked on the millennial-focused dramedy, Younger.
Despite earning critical praise from major outlets such as The Washington Post, who described
Duff's series as "part Sex and the City and part Gilmore Girls," Younger flew under the
radar, especially at first.
Now that seasons 1 through 3 are streaming on Hulu, there will soon be an all new, potentially
more youthful and more Duff-acquainted audience for Younger to reach.
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