In March 2000, Duff appeared in the small guest role as a sick child in the medical drama Chicago Hope right before being cast as one of the children in the pilot episode of the NBC sitcom Daddio. Her Daddio co-star Michael Chiklis stated, "After working with her the first day, I remember saying to my wife, 'This young girl is gonna be a movie star.' She was completely at ease with herself and comfortable in her own skin." However, prior to the airing of the show, the producers dropped Duff from the cast. Depressed, Duff was reluctant to pursue her acting career further.
A week later, she landed the title role of a newly developed Disney Channel children's television series, Lizzie McGuire after her mother, who had likewise become her manager by this time, urged her to audition. Duff played a clumsy teen who dreams to fit in and be popular. The show made Duff a popular household name, particularly with its target demographic of pre-teens and adolescents. Focusing on its central character, the show's mixed media format stood out from the rest of the Disney Channel's programming of the time and, in essence, became the channel's flagship and definitive show of the early 2000s.[citation needed] The show premiered on the Disney Channel on January 12, 2001, and was a ratings hit that attracted about 2.3 million viewers per episode. However, after Duff fulfilled her 65-episode contract with Lizzie McGuire, the show ended on February 14, 2004. Though Disney considered expanding the franchise to films and a prime-time television series, those plans failed because Duff's representatives said that she was not being paid enough for the proposed series.
Duff's first role in a theatrical motion picture was in Human Nature (2002) in which she portrays the younger version of a female naturalist, played by Patricia Arquette. The film was showcased first at the Cannes and Sundance film festivals. Duff also starred as a free-spirited girl who struggles in a strict military school in the 2002 Disney Channel television film Cadet Kelly, which became the network's most watched program in its 19-year history.
Duff became interested in pursuing a music career after attending a Radio Disney concert in 2001. She had started vocal lessons before her acting career began; resuming those, she also became one of Andre Recke's clients at Hollywood Records. Duff's music career began with two soundtrack appearances: In 2002, she appeared on the soundtrack to the Lizzie McGuire series, performing a cover version of Brooke McClymont's "I Can't Wait," which received tremendous success on Radio Disney, and the Walt Disney Records compilation DisneyMania, performing a cover of "The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room."
The same year, she released a holiday album titled Santa Claus Lane (2002) which was a collection of Christmas songs that included duets with her sister, Lil' Romeo, and Christina Milian. Accompanied by the Disney Channel-only single "Tell Me a Story (About the Night Before)," the album peaked at 154 on the US Billboard 200 album chart and was certified gold. While her songs were hits on Radio Disney, including "Why Not?," and "What Dreams Are Made Of," both of which had been featured in The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), Recke and executives at Buena Vista Music Group envisioned Duff reaching a more mature audience.
2003: Metamorphosis, Agent Cody Banks, and Cheaper by the Dozen
Duff released her debut album, Metamorphosis, in 2003. The album received mixed reviews from music critics; some complimented it for being a modern-day bubblegum album, while others considered the album to be a promotional gimmick for Duff's musical career, lacking real substance. Nonetheless, Metamorphosis reached number one on the Billboard 200 and Canadian Albums Chart and sold over five million copies worldwide by late 2005. Its lead single "So Yesterday," was a top ten hit in several countries despite not impacting in her native United States; its follow-up, "Come Clean," had the same effect and was chosen as the theme song for Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. The third single, "Little Voice," was not released in the United States, but it was a minor hit in Australia.
Duff further promoted the album with the Metamorphosis Tour that ran from November to December 2003. Most shows that were scheduled in major cities were sold out. Metamorphosis earned Duff her first Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Female Singer as well as Best New Female Artist at the World Music Awards in 2004. Before embarking on another American tour, titled Most Wanted, which she conducted from July to September 2004, Duff also recorded a cover of The Go-Go's selection "Our Lips Are Sealed," with her sister Haylie, for the original A Cinderella Story soundtrack.
In 2003, Duff received her first major role in a feature film when she was cast opposite Frankie Muniz, playing the love interest of his title character in the action comedy Agent Cody Banks. The film received positive reviews; Scott Foundas of Variety magazine labelled Duff's performance "charming," yet thought she was "sidelined with little to do much of the time." The same year, Duff reprised her role as Lizzie McGuire for The Lizzie McGuire Movie. It received mixed reviews; some criticized her acting skills whilst David Levine from Filmcritic.com called it "an unabashed promotion of Duff's image." Later that year, Duff played one of the 12 children of Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt in the family comedy Cheaper by the Dozen, a remake of the 1950 film, which remains her highest grossing film to date, despite not-so-complimentary reviews of Duff's performance. Slant Magazine reviewer Nick Schager wrote that Duff "does nothing more than look perky and stylish."
Duff also made several guest appearances in television shows which included the role of a makeup salesperson in George Lopez; in 2003 she later reappeared in the show in 2005 as Kenzie, a feminist poet friend of the character Carmen (Masiela Lusha). In 2003, she also portrayed one of The Shangri-Las opposite her sister Haylie in the second season of American Dreams, while in 2005, she played a classmate and idolizer of Amber Tamblyn's title character in Joan of Arcadia.
2004–06: Hilary Duff, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, and Most Wanted
Released on Duff's seventeenth birthday in 2004, her second studio album was the self-titled Hilary Duff. This time, she was more involved in crafting of the album by co-writing songs, desiring it to be her departure from her young Lizzie McGuire image. The album has a rockier edge than Metamorphosis did, which critics received negatively and compared her to singers Avril Lavigne and Ashlee Simpson. Despite its two singles, "Fly" and "Someone's Watching Over Me," not being major hits, the album debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 192,000 copies in its first week, and became her second consecutive number one debut in Canada. The self-titled album sold 1.8 million copies in the United States and was certified platinum by the RIAA.
In 2005, Duff followed her self-titled album with her first compilation album titled Most Wanted, which consisted of three new songs, songs from her previous two albums, and remixes. Most Wanted received mostly negative reviews from critics, who deemed the release as premature, stating that Duff did not have enough material to issue a compilation. However, new songs "Wake Up" (which was written and composed by Duff's boyfriend at the time Joel Madden and his brother Benji, both members of Good Charlotte), "Beat of My Heart" and "Break My Heart" received favorable comments; critics believed that their dance-oriented sound stood out from the rest of the album. Most Wanted debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming Duff's second number one in the United States, and became her third number one debut in Canada. It sold over two hundred thousand copies within its first week of release, and was certified platinum by the RIAA a month after its release. Duff followed the international success of the album and its singles by embarking on her first worldwide concert tour to support the album. Titled the Still Most Wanted Tour, the tour began in July 2005 and ran through September 2006. In 2006, an Italy-only compilation, 4ever Hilary Duff, was released alongside an exclusive DVD, due to Italian fans not getting as many of the normal releases of her albums pressed in the country. Duff and her sister Haylie also recorded a cover version of Madonna's "Material Girl" for the soundtrack to their 2006 satirical comedy Material Girls.
In 2004, she starred in the romantic comedy A Cinderella Story opposite Chad Michael Murray. Reviews of her performance were mostly negative: "her appeal lies precisely in being Hilary Duff," wrote Reel critic Sarah Chauncy. However, the film went on to become a moderate box office hit, and some critics were impressed by Duff's performance. Later that year, she starred in her first dramatic role in the musical drama Raise Your Voice, . While some critics praised her for appearing in a more mature and serious role than her previous films, the film itself was heavily panned and was not successful at the box office. Several reviews were indifferent towards her acting performance and were critical of Duff's vocals, with critics pointing out what appeared to be her digitally enhanced voice. Her roles in the two films combined led to her first Razzie nomination for Worst Actress in 2004.
Her subsequent role in the romantic comedy The Perfect Man and the reprisal of her character in the Belles On Their Toes film remake, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, both released in 2005, combined to result in her second Razzie nomination for Worst Actress in 2005. The Village Voice's Matt Singer wrote of the former, in which she co-stars with Heather Locklear and Chris Noth, "Duff plays her standard character--an introverted romantic who falls for a guy whose hunky exterior belies an artistic soul." It was poorly received both critically and commercially. The latter, which was less successful as the previous Cheaper by the Dozen, was panned by critics. "Duff just looks like she'd rather be in a different movie," read a harsh review Mike Clarke wrote for USA Today.
Additionally, the Duff sisters both lent their voices to the computer animated comedy Foodfight! in late 2005, but the film never had its planned theatrical release. Duff paired with her sister again in the satirical comedy film Material Girls in 2006, but it was unsuccessful both commercially and critically, earning both sisters a shared Razzie nomination for Worst Actress, becoming Duff's third consecutive nomination in this field in three years. The sisters were also nominated for Worst Screen Couple.
2007–09: Dignity, Best of Hilary Duff, and independent films[edit]
Duff performing (2007)
Duff co-wrote the material for her fourth studio album Dignity (2007), along with Kara DioGuardi, who co-produced the album with Rhett Lawrence, Tim & Bob, and Richard Vission. In contrast to the pop rock themes of her prior releases, Dignity takes on more of a dance and electropop sound and makes use of more instruments. The lyrics reference the events Duff experienced in the years leading to the album's release while the album's songs contain influences of rock and roll and hip hop music. Critical response was mostly positive; while Duff's "weak" singing voice was noted, the album was praised for its songwriting and her new musical direction. Upon release, Dignity debuted at number three in the US, a lower peak than Duff's previous albums and with lower sales, which Billboard attributed to the loss of fans during her musical evolution. Despite the relatively poor performance of the album, it produced Duff's highest-peaking US single to date, "With Love" (number 24), which also peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart, becoming the first of her three consecutive number ones on that chart; her second being "Stranger," the album's third single. Dignity reached the top ten in several countries, and the RIAA certified it gold in the United States. She embarked on her fourth concert tour, simply titled Dignity, from July 2007 to February 2008, which went around North America, Brazil, and Australia. Following this, Duff had sold thirteen million albums worldwide and had performed across the world on four concert tours.
Duff attending the Tribeca Film Festival (2008)
A two-part introspective documentary television special Hilary Duff: This Is Now was produced to chronicle Duff's return to the recording industry. The show took two weeks to film and was shot in both the US and around Europe. It was broadcast on MTV in April 2007. Duff was also the guest star on The Andy Milonakis Show for its third season premiere in September 2007.[citation needed]
Duff was cast in the 2008 political satire War, Inc.. Her role as Yonica Babyyeah, an oversexed Central Asian pop star garnered praise, despite the film receiving generally negative reviews from critics. Duff recorded two exclusive tracks, "Boom Boom Bang Bang" and "I Want to Blow You Up," for her role in the movie. War, Inc. opened on an extremely limited release in only two theaters across the United States. The film went on to open in a further thirty theaters across the United States. It was second in largest per theater gross. It closed on August 7, 2008, without a wide release, grossing only $580,862 domestically.
Duff released her first greatest hits album titled Best of Hilary Duff (2008). Like Most Wanted (2005), the album features songs from her previous three albums, remixes and two new tracks: "Reach Out" and "Holiday." "Reach Out," which samples Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus," was released in the preceding month of the album's release as its first single. The song became Duff's third number one dance hit in the United States, but the album failed to reach the success of its predecessors. Best of was her first album not to receive any RIAA certifications, and it peaked at number 125 on the US chart. Duff said she hoped to write a third song for the release and to have "Holiday" released as a single. Hollywood Records later scrapped these plans, adding to their large list of cancellations which, in turn, led Duff to make the decision to leave the label after six years of service and develop this album to bring a quick end to her contract, which had expected one more album. She announced to MTV that she would begin writing her next album in December 2008, but it was never developed. In 2009, Duff and Richard Vission contributed on a song titled "Any Other Day" for the What Goes Up soundtrack.[citation needed]
In 2009, she starred in two independent drama films. The first, as the title role of a young suicidal and rebellious teen in According to Greta, received mixed reviews; Andrew Barker of Variety magazine criticized Duff's "child star" approach to acting and wanted her to stay away from teen roles. However, Los Angeles Times critic Robert Abele wrote that her attempt to "transform her bright-eyed wholesomeness into rebellious snark" in Greta "is a valiant one." The second, as a narcissistic seductress in What Goes Up, also received mixed reviews. Brian Lowry of Variety magazine stated that Duff's performance "amounts to a near-adult role" yet labeled her role, and the film in general, "confused."
Duff was also meant to star as Bonnie Parker in a 2009 independent remake of Bonnie and Clyde titled The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. Her co-star, slated to be appearing as Clyde Barrow, was Kevin Zegers. However, in 2011, it was announced that Duff and Zegers were dropped from the cast due to scheduling conflicts.
Despite turning down the lead role of Annie Mills in the television series 90210 in early 2008 because she was more interested in looking for projects outside the teen genre, Duff attained a recurring guest star role in the third season of Gossip Girl. She played Olivia Burke, a movie star who enrolls in NYU in search of a traditional college experience. In the ninth episode, titled "They Shoot Humphreys, Don't They?", Duff's character ended up in a threesome with Penn Badgley's character Dan and Jessica Szhor's character Vanessa, which led to protests from parent groups. The following year, she won a Teen Choice Award for Best Female Scene Stealer for her role as Olivia Burke; Enid Portugez of the LA Times also praised her performance by giving a positive review to her involvement in this adult role. She appeared in six episodes of the season. In April that same year, she had guest roles in Ghost Whisperer and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.[citation needed]
2010–12: Beauty & the Briefcase, Bloodworth, and early return to musical career[edit]
In 2010, Duff starred in the ABC Family television film Beauty & the Briefcase, in which she plays a fashion magazine columnist who writes about her dating struggles in the city. The film had a rating of 2.4 million viewers. The same year, she appeared in an episode of the NBC sitcom Community as Meghan, the leader of a group of mean girls.[citation needed]
Duff co-starred as Raven Halfacre, the teenage daughter of a promiscuous alcoholic mother, in the drama film Bloodworth, (2011) of which Los Angeles Times reviewer Sheri Linden thought she "acquits herself well" despite not warming to the film. The Examiner also wrote that the "biggest surprise performance [in the film] probably belongs to Hilary Duff." She also played Shasta O'Neil, a sexy high school senior, in the Polish brothers' comedy Stay Cool (2011) in which she co-starred with Winona Ryder, Mark Polish, Sean Astin, Chevy Chase, and Jon Cryer to neither much critical nor commercial avail. In 2012, she co-starred in Rob Margolies' comedy She Wants Me, as Kim Powers, a well-known starlet who enters a love triangle.
In October 2011, Duff mentioned plans of a possible new album to E! Online. In January 2012, she confirmed, through her official website and Twitter, that she had begun recording songs. Throughout the recording sessions in 2012, Duff primarily worked with songwriter Ali Tamposi, musicians Matt Squire and Jason Evigan. She also began taking vocal lessons again to prepare her return to her musical career.
In August 2012, Duff signed a deal with 20th Century Fox to develop a sitcom in which she would star and produce. According to the deal if the thirty-minute sitcom failed to work, Duff would be cast in a different show. However, this plan failed to develop. She appeared as a guest judge in Project Runway in September the same year.[citation needed]
2013–present: Fifth studio album and Younger[edit]
In early 2013, Duff guest starred in the television shows Raising Hope and the tenth season finale of Two and a Half Men. She also lent her voice to an animated film Wings, together with Jesse McCartney and Josh Duhamel released by the animation company Simka Entertainment. She reprised that role in 2014, for the movie's sequel Wings: Sky Force Heroes. By July 2013, Duff had finished filming the independent film Flock of Dudes, which is slated for a spring 2014 release.[citation needed]
In August 2013, Duff told Idolator that the songs she recorded in 2012 would not make it to the final version of her upcoming album, because she did not like their sound. She also mentioned that she was interested in making an electronic dance music-driven record. It was confirmed in the interview that Duff had already begun recording brand new material. No official release date for the album had been announced yet.
In September 2013, Duff updated her Instagram account, revealing that she was working with record producer Billy Mann for a selection intended for her upcoming album. Mann is well known for his works with a diverse range of artists including P!nk, Celine Dion, Boyzone and Robyn. Based on the caption of Duff's Instagram upload, the current working title of the track is "Better Days", On October 31, 2013, she uploaded another photo to her Instagram account which revealed her working with Mann again. On November 7, 2013, Duff tweeted on her Twitter account that she had co-written a song titled "Outlaw" with songwriter Lindy Robbins and record producer Ian Kirkpatrick. The song was finally recorded after Duff confirmed it through her Twitter account on December 9, 2013.[citation needed]
On November 20, 2013, it was announced that Duff would be guest-starring on a Dora the Explorer special episode, which aired on November 25, 2013. Duff voiced the Ice Witch, in which her character sings and raps.
On December 4, 2013, in an interview with Breakfast Television Toronto, Duff confirmed that she had already recorded six songs so far and that they carry an upbeat and happy tune. She stated that the album will have an influence of dance and indie music. She also mentioned that she plans to have the first single released in the spring of 2014, and the album sometime in the fall.
On December 15, 2013, Duff confirmed through her Twitter account that she had recorded a song titled "Breathing Room" while she was in New York City. It was also confirmed that Duff is working with her music manager Andre Recke again, who managed her when she was under Hollywood Records.
On January 15, 2014, it was announced that Duff signed on to co-star opposite Sutton Foster in a pilot episode for a sitcom titled Younger, based on a Pamela Redmond Satran novel. Duff plays Kelsey, an ambitious 20-something who persuades Foster's character Liza to work in a publishing firm. The show is created and executive produced by Sex and the City creator Darren Star and is set to air on TV Land with the pilot's filming already finished in February in New York City. The promotional photoshoot was made in the following month. In April 2014, it was announced that the pilot was picked up for a series with a 12-episode deal and was initially set to premiere in the fall. However in an interview with Access Hollywood in May, Duff affirmed that they will continue filming in September 2014 in New York. TVLand's president, Larry W. Jones who will also executive produce the sitcom stated in a Twitter Q&A that Younger will premiere in January 2015. Duff's character is one of the lead roles in the show, marking her first time in ten years since Lizzie McGuire, to star in a television series. Debi Mazar and Miriam Shor will co-star.
On March 28, 2014, Duff confirmed through her Instagram upload that she had signed a new record deal. However, the record label Duff signed to was not revealed. Prior to the record label announcement, Duff revealed a lyric sheet of a song from her upcoming album. Duff confirmed later on March 31, 2014 through her Twitter account that the song is titled "Northern Star". On the same day, she uploaded a picture on Instagram confirming that she has recorded a possible duet for a song titled "Night Like This". The song is produced by Ian Kirkpatrick, whom she worked with on the song "Outlaw". Other song titles Duff has revealed through her Instagram since the beginning of the recording sessions includes the song "Hurts" which has been speculated about her separation with her husband Mike Comrie and also a track titled "Take It for What It Is". Duff also appears occasionally in her sister Haylie's new lifestyle webshow, Real Girl's Kitchen. The webshow includes recipes from Haylie and gives viewers an insight on how the sisters spend their free time with family and friends. It is available on Ora TV beginning April 2014. The show was then picked up by Cooking Channel and began airing on June 7, 2014.
Duff attended the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Awards on May 1, 2014 and was interviewed about her new music. She confirmed that she is still writing more songs and is working with acclaimed songwriter Savan Kotecha and English indie singer Ed Sheeran. Duff also said that the album now sounds more towards an "earthy, indie-pop" feel, as opposed to her initial idea of making an electronic-dance influenced album. The same month too music producer and former One Republic member Jerrod Bettis who worked with Duff for this upcoming album uploaded on Instagram a snippet of him playing an acoustic guitar backed up with an instrumental. It was not until the following week that the snippet was confirmed to be Duff's new track. After the news broke, the video was deleted.
Regarding the song Duff worked on with Ed Sheeran, the latter gave an insight about how Duff's new album sounds like, in an interview. Sheeran said that the album is "not what her fans will expect", adding that it takes on a more mature genre specifically an "adult alternative acoustic" sound. The song which he worked on with Duff, was completed in the early morning only taking up two hours to complete. Sheeran also stated that it might or might not be the album's first single. The song title was then revealed to be called "Tattoo" in an interview Duff gave.
On July 23, 2014, it was revealed that Duff had signed with RCA Records to release her upcoming fifth studio album. The lead single "Chasing the Sun" and its music video were simultaneously released on July 29, 2014. Filming for the music video began on July 12 at State Beach, California. It is directed by Declan Whitebloom, most prominently known for his work for Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "Mine". Based on far-ranged photographs taken by most probably the passers-by, Duff was wearing a bikini and there was a man playing Duff's love interest. A week later, Duff's manager Andre Recke announced on his Twitter account that the single would premiere on July 24 at the nightclub Marquee in New York City. Initially penned for Colbie Calliat's studio album, the song did not make the final cut and was instead given to Duff after the latter showed interest in recording it. Produced by Toby Gad, the song was written by Calliat and Jason Reeves. It was through Gad that Duff knew about the song and decided to record it. Duff explained in interview with Popjustice that choosing "Chasing the Sun" as the lead single was not an easy, "Honestly it was a really tough choice. I think it was a close tie between ‘All About You’, ‘Chasing The Sun’ and ‘Tattoo’ probably. It’s a really carefree, summer song and I guess I didn’t really know what people were expecting from me. This song is definitely a top-down, carefree, super catchy singalong song and so I guess we thought that would be a good move." The single debuted at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100, #72 on the Australian ARIA chart and at #59 on the Canadian Hot 100. Its music video raked in fourteen million views on Youtube in just one week of its release. It became the singer's fastest viewing video on Youtube. In conjunction with that, a behind-the-scenes video was released on her official channel and a bloopers video via her Vevo channel.
On August 9th, Duff announced on her Twitter account that a second single will be released soon, after hinting to her fans via "tweets" among songwriters Savan Kotecha and Carl Falk. She then revealed that "All About You" will be the album's second single and will premiere on August 12 on a prerecorded radio show in Atlanta. She revealed the single's cover via her Instagram account the following day. Upon the song's debut on the mentioned date, "All About You" received acclaim from critics, generally praising that it is an improvement from the generic-sounding "Chasing the Sun", her vocal abilities and also the song's structure which includes a folk-rock sounding chorus and a catchy hook. Nolan Feeney of TIME praised the song saying that it "cooks up a comeback" and described the song generally as "packs the kind of rowdy punch required to get a comeback really cooking", other than comparing the song to works of Taylor Swift.
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