Hilary Duff Talks Using Music To 'Re-Introduce' Self From Lizzie McGuire Shadow

Hilary Duff is reminiscing about her most famous role.

The star first gained recognition as the titular character in the Disney Channel series "Lizzie McGuire" in the early 2000s. Since then, she has expanded her career to include music, film, and television projects and has become a popular public figure. In a recent interview, she opened up about her challenges in navigating her teenage years and the fame that came with it. 

As a young star in Hollywood, it might not be easy shedding that persona when becoming an adult. Despite her success, Duff has been open about the challenges she has faced in the entertainment industry, especially after leaving the popular series she started at 13. 

While chatting with Josh Peck and Ben Differ on their podcast, "Good Guys," the actress talked about several things in her life and explained how she was able to re-emerge as her own person after Disney. 

After her breakout role on the channel's eponymous show, she shared that she needed to establish her own identity. She explained that she wanted to break free from the character that made her famous and be recognized for her talents and abilities.

The mother-of-three stated that she did not want to be that character anymore, regardless of how "cool it was." She noted that for a very long time:

"people were just like 'Lizzie, Lizzie, Lizzie.' And still, now to this day, which it doesn't bother me anymore, but it did for a while, I just desperately needed to be my own person."

The author decided to go into music because she felt it was a great way to distract people from seeing her as a famous fictional character. "I think that I thought music was gonna be a good way to introduce myself, reintroduce myself, and it was," she said. 

The 35-year-old revealed that it was not an easy road, and it took five years of her life to navigate into the person she wanted to be without outside influences. In her words:

"I remember being on tour and having mothers come up to me and be like, 'Never change! Whatever you do, just never, never, never change!'"

She noted that it did not help her to hear that, even though she was sure they meant well by it. When asked if she was still making music, the "How I Met Your Father" star said she had not worked on any new songs for a while.

She recalled that while on vacation in Mexico with her husband long ago, fans found out where they were staying and sang her songs to her the whole night. She noted that apart from having three children to care for, situations like that were part of the reason she decided not to make music for a while. 

The couple, who had been dating for three years before getting engaged, exchanged their wedding vows in an intimate ceremony held in the backyard of their Los Angeles home in 2019. 

Three years and a few children later, The Blast shared that she celebrated their third wedding anniversary by sharing some adorable throwback pictures on social media. 

She posted a carousel of pictures that featured their journey together, like the first image, which showed the couple walking down the aisle after their wedding ceremony, to the mirror selfie of the couple holding her tiny baby bump. 

The other heartwarming memories included visiting a herd of Alpacas and cuddling their kids in the sun, an older throwback image of Duff with green-colored hair and Koma wearing earrings, and a family portrait taken near the ocean at the beach.

She gushed in the caption, "Matthew. I love you so much. Happy 3 years! I don't know if you knew what you were getting into or that you weren't going to sleep or sit down for the next 5-10 years, but I think, for the most part, you're pretty happy about it. Our life is so full, and I'm over the top grateful for the guy I got to do all this madness with."