duff

Hilary Erhard Duff^[1] (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress and singer. After gaining fame for her starring role on the television show Lizzie McGuire, she went on to have a film career, and her most commercially successful pictures include Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) and A Cinderella Story (2004). Duff has also expanded her repertoire into pop music, with four studio albums, including one scheduled for release in 2006. The teenage star is also set to appear in The Sims 2: Pets with her chihuahua, Lola.

Early life and career

Duff was born in Houston, Texas, the second child of Robert Erhard Duff, owner of a chain of convenience stores, and Susan Colleen Cobb, a homemaker. After Duff's mother encouraged her to take an acting class alongside her older sister, Haylie Katherine Duff, both girls won parts in various local theatre productions. At the age of six, the Duff sisters participated in the ballet The Nutcracker Suite with Columbus Ballet Met in San Antonio. The siblings became more enthusiastic about the idea of acting professionally, and eventually relocated to California with their mother. Robert Duff stayed at the family home in Houston to maintain their business. After several years of auditions and meetings, the Duff sisters were cast in several television commercials.^[2]

Hilary Duff and her pert dog Lola will make an appearance in the Electronic Arts game The Sims 2: Pets set to be released in October 2006. In console versions of the game Hilary's character will visit public areas and players will be able to let their sims socialise with her and Lola, the dog. However, in the PC expansion pack, players must download the Hilary sim from the Maxis website before December 31st - if they're interested - she and her dog will be fully playable characters, rather than an NPC. ^[3]

Television and film

Most of Duff's first few acting roles were small, starting off with an uncredited appearance in Hallmark Entertainment's western miniseries True Women (1997). She also served as an extra, again uncredited, in writer-director Willard Carroll's ensemble comedy drama Playing by Heart (1998). Her first major part was as the star of the 1998 film Casper Meets Wendy, playing the young witch, Wendy, who encounters the animated character Casper. Like Casper: A Spirited Beginning (1997), the second sequel to the successful Casper (1995), the film was released direct-to-video with generally unenthusiastic reviews.

Duff later appeared in a supporting role in the television film The Soul Collector (1999), which was based on a Kathleen Kane novel and starred Bruce Greenwood as an angel who helps out a female farmer (Melissa Gilbert) whose husband has recently died. Duff ended up winning a Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot (Supporting Young Actress)".

Duff's first serious shot at fame came when she was cast as one of the children in the pilot episode of the NBC sitcom Daddio (2000). Actor Michael Chiklis, co-star of Daddio stated, "After working with her the first day, I remember saying to my wife, 'This young girl is going to be a movie star'. She was completely at ease with herself and comfortable in her own skin".^[2] Before the show had aired, Duff was dropped from its cast lineup and became reluctant to continue her acting career. Her manager and mother spurred her on, and a week later she successfully auditioned for the family comedy show Lizzie McGuire.

Lizzie McGuire, which first aired on the Disney Channel in January 2001, was a ratings hit, drawing in 2.3 million viewers per episode,^[2] and became the career breakthrough Duff had been waiting for. Her participation in the show led to her becoming highly popular among children between the ages of seven and fourteen, with critic Richard Huff of the New York Daily News calling her "a 2002 version of Annette Funicello".^[2] After Duff fulfilled her entire sixty-five episode contract with Lizzie McGuire, Disney toyed with the idea of continuing the franchise in further films and a prime-time television series to be broadcast on ABC, but the plans deteriorated. A successful feature film spin-off, The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), was produced, it grossed over 40 million in the box office and became one of the years most popular movies.

Duff's first role in a theatrical motion picture after Lizzie McGuire was in Human Nature (2002), an independent film first shown at the Cannes and Sundance film festivals. Written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry, the film follows a female naturalist, played by Patricia Arquette. Duff played the younger version of Arquette's character.

Duff subsequently starred opposite Christy Carlson Romano and Gary Cole in the Disney Channel television film Cadet Kelly (2002), which became the network's most watched program in its nineteen-year history.^[2] Her first major role in a feature film was in Agent Cody Banks with Frankie Muniz in 2003. The film was successful enough to spawn a sequel, in which Duff did not participate. Later that year Duff played one of the twelve children of Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt in the family film Cheaper by the Dozen, which remains her highest grossing film. She reprised her role in the sequel, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005), which failed to repeat the financial success of the original film and was panned by critics.

In 2004 Duff starred in the romantic comedy A Cinderella Story, an update of Charles Perrault's fairy tale Cinderella. The film became a moderate box office hit, and though reviews were mostly negative, some critics were impressed by Duff's performance and her chemistry with co-star Chad Michael Murray. A Cinderella Story earned a total of $66,068,046 worldwide and was a commercial success.^[4] Later that year she starred in the film Raise Your Voice. Some critics praised Duff for appearing in a more dramatic role than previously, but the film was heavily panned, with the Las Vegas Weekly writing: "Effortlessly combining Duff's bad acting and bad singing with bad writing and bad direction, Raise Your Voice is an insulting waste of time that begs to be silenced". Reviews were, by and large, negative to Duff's vocals (several critics pointed out what appears to be her digitally enhanced voice ^[5][6][7][8]) and indifferent towards her acting performance. Duff received a Razzie Award nomination for "Worst Actress" (in addition to her work in A Cinderella Story). The film received a muted reception at the box office, where it became Duff's least commercially successful film at the time.

In The Perfect Man (2005) she played the eldest daughter of a divorced woman (Heather Locklear) who moves to New York City as she desperately searches for a man to settle down with. Reviews mostly negative, and the film disappointed at the box office. That year, Duff was again nominated for a Razzie Award, for both The Perfect Man and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. The 2006 satirical comedy Material Girls was her least commercially successful film to date; the Martha Coolidge-directed film, co-produced by Madonna's independent film production company Maverick Entertainment, starred Duff and her real-life sister Haylie Duff as wealthy siblings who must fight to reclaim their fortune following a scandal.

The Duff sisters are due to lend their voices to the computer animated comedy Foodfight!, which Lions Gate Films is to distribute in 2007. The film's director, Larry Kasanoff, said that he is "absolutely thrilled to have the Duff sisters as part of the cast." ^[9]

Music career

Duff recorded a cover of Brooke McClymont's "I Can't Wait" for the original television soundtrack for Lizzie McGuire in 2002, and "The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room" for the first Disneymania compilation album. Her first album was Santa Claus Lane (2002), a collection of Christmas songs which included duets with Lil' Romeo, Christina Milian, and her sister Haylie. Accompanied by the Disney Channel-only single "Tell Me a Story", it peaked well outside of the top 100 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart, but eventually received a gold certification. The album's title track was included on the soundtrack to The Santa Clause 2 and another song (What Christmas Should Be) was used in Cheaper by the Dozen.

Duff sang several tracks for the soundtrack to The Lizzie McGuire Movie, including "Why Not", which became a modest top twenty hit in Australia. Duff's second studio album, Metamorphosis (2003), included contributions by songwriter-producers such as The Matrix and reached number one on the U.S. and Canadian charts. It became one of the biggest selling albums of the year in the U.S. and has since gone to sell over 3.7 million copies.^[10] The lead single, "So Yesterday", was a top ten hit in several countries and its music video received heavy airplay on MTV, while "Come Clean" became Duff's first top forty U.S. hit and reached the top twenty elsewhere. The final single, "Little Voice", was not released in the U.S. and was a minor hit in Canada and Australia. In late 2003 Duff embarked on her first concert tour, the Metamorphosis Tour and later the Girl Can Rock tour.

The second Disneymania disc was released in January 2004 and contained a duet with her sister, "The Siamese Cat Song". Another song, "Circle of Life", featured Duff and other Disney Channel Stars. Duff and her sister recorded a cover of The Go-Gos' "Our Lips Are Sealed" for the soundtrack to A Cinderella Story, which included two other songs by Duff.^[11] The video for "Our Lips Are Sealed" was popular on MTV's TRL but the song itself failed to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

Duff co-wrote several of the tracks on her third album, the self-titled Hilary Duff, which she had an edgier, rock feel than Metamorphosis. It was released on her seventeenth birthday (in September 2004) and debuted at number two in the U.S. and number one in Canada. The album has sold over 1.5 million copies in the U.S. to date,^[10] but the single "Fly" failed to chart in the U.S. despite a popular video. It and "Someone's Watching over Me" reached the Australian top forty, but because the album was less successful than Metamorphosis, no other singles were released.^{citation needed]} Duff then embarked on the nine-month Most Wanted Tour.

Duff's fourth album, Most Wanted (2005), comprised her favorite tracks from her previous two albums, remixes, and new songs inspired by rock musicians such as The Killers and Muse. Duff stated that it was not a greatest hits album, but that her label told her it was time to release a new album. She had more creative control over Most Wanted compared to her previous releases, co-writing and co-producing all of the new material with boyfriend Joel Madden and his brother Benji, both of the band Good Charlotte. The lead single, "Wake Up", became Duff's highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 and her highest peaking single in the U.S., and its video received heavy rotation on MTV. The video for the second single, "Beat of My Heart", was also popular, but the single itself did not chart in the U.S. The album itself debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and became her third number-one debut in Canada. By March 2006, it had sold 1.3 million copies in the U.S.^[12] An Italy-only compilation, 4Ever, was released in 2006.

Duff recorded new songs for the soundtrack of her film Material Girls, including a Timbaland-produced cover version of Madonna's "Material Girl" with her sister.^[13] According to MTV News, Duff fourth studio album will be released in the United States on December 5, 2006 (see 2006 in music). It is preceded by the single "Play with Fire", which was released to U.S. radio stations in August. Duff has co-written material for the album with Kara DioGuardi, and she also worked with producer-songwriter Rhett Lawrence in Toronto, Canada.^[14] She said in August that the album is "very early on", and that compared to her previous music it would be "more dancey ... but really hip-hop because we're using a lot of real instruments. I don't know exactly how to explain what we're doing, but it's fun and funky and different, something new for me. It's really cool."^[15] She later said "it's totally not [hip-hop], but it's a little less pop-rock and more electronic-sounding" and that it would be finished in September.^[16]

Personal life

Duff began dating singer Aaron Carter in 2002. They met on the set of Lizzie McGuire, when Carter had a cameo role on a christmas episode. The relationship lasted a year and a half. It was reported that Carter left actress Lindsay Lohan for Duff. Carter said he also cheated on Duff with her best friend, that Duff "got her heart broken" and that he is "sorry" for his actions.^[17] Duff and Lindsay Lohan were later reported to have been involved in a "feud" with each other, over their relationship with Carter.^[18] As of 2006, the two have reportedly still not reconciled, and Duff has stated "Sometimes I feel like I really hate her [Lohan], which is pretty extreme for me".^[19]

Duff is currently dating Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden.^[20] The two announced their relationship in June 2005, after a long period of tabloid speculation.^[21] In a June 2006 interview with ELLE magazine, Duff was quoted as saying "virginity is definitely something I like about myself. It doesn't mean I haven't thought about sex, because everyone I know has had it and you want to fit in".^[22] Duff later told MuchMusic that she didn't say the quotes attributed to her in the article and that the subject was "definitely not something that I would talk about..."^[23]

Duff is involved with several charities, is an animal rights enthusiast, a member of "Kids with a Cause,"^[24] and has donated US$250,000 to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.^[25] She launched a clothing line, "Stuff by Duff", on March 12, 2004, with clothes distributed through Target in the United States, Kmart in Australia, Zellers in Canada and Edgars in South Africa. Playmates Toys released a celebrity doll of her that year.^[26]

In August 2005 Duff said she received veneers because she chipped off one of her front teeth on a microphone during a concert.^[27] In late 2005 Duff took a month off from work as a belated eighteenth birthday present. She said that she wanted to take a short break after releasing Most Wanted and writing three new songs for it, shooting three films, and embarking on her U.S. "Still Most Wanted Tour". By 2005 Duff appeared to have lost weight, leading the media to speculate that she had developed an eating disorder, although Duff has denied this claim.^[28] Duff was interviewed on the Australian current affair show Today Tonight and stated that she lost weight by living a more active lifestyle.

In late August 2006 Duff traveled to a New Orleans elementary school and worked with USA Harvest to distribute meals. In 2005, she donated more than 2.5 million meals to Hurricane Katrina victims in the south.^[29] In September 2006 Duff released her perfume, "With Love", which she premiered on The View.^[30]

Filmography

Films

Other roles

Duff has made several guest appearances in television shows, her first as a sick child in the medical drama Chicago Hope in March 2000. In a 2003 episode of George Lopez she had a role as a makeup salesperson, and she later reappeared in the show in 2005 as a feminist poet friend of Carmen (Masiela Lusha), a character whose poetry had roots in the work of Simone de Beauvoir, Toril Moi, and Ranjit Hakim. She acted opposite her sister Haylie as the 1960s pop group The Shangri-Las in American Dreams in 2003, and played a classmate and idolizer of the title character of Joan of Arcadia in a 2005 episode. During her Most Wanted tour, she performed in Guadalajara, Mexico, where she filmed a brief appearance on the soap opera Rebelde.

Discography

Main article: Hilary Duff discography

Albums

Singles

Soundtracks

See also

• Hilary Duff discography

References

Notes

Articles

• Our Teresa may lose job, Kirsten Heysen, The Herald Sun, August 14, 2006

Charts

• RIAA searchable database Retrieved August 2, 2005.
• Rock on the Net: Hilary Duff Retrieved August 2, 2005. (music information)
• All Music Guide: Hilary Duff Retrieved August 2, 2005.
• Worldwide Charts: Hilary Duff Retrieved August 2, 2005.

External links

• Official site
• Official music site
• Hilary Duff at TV.com
• Hilary Duff at the Internet Movie Database
• Hilary Duff at the Notable Names Database