Early life and career beginnings

Hilary Erhard Duff was born on September 28, 1987, in Houston, Texas. She grew up between Houston and San Antonio with her father Robert Erhard Duff, a partner in a chain of convenience stores in the two areas, her mother Susan Colleen (née Cobb), a homemaker turned film and music producer, and her older sister Haylie, who is also an actress and singer.

From a young age, Duff took after her older sister and, encouraged by their mother, the pair enrolled in acting, singing and ballet classes. Both girls won roles in local theatre productions and, together, at the ages of six and eight, they participated in a touring BalletMet production of The Nutcracker in San Antonio.

Increasingly interested in the pursuit of show business, the Duff sisters and their mother moved to California in 1993, while their father stayed in Houston to take care of his business. The sisters auditioned for several years and were cast in many television commercials. Due to her acting career, Duff was home-schooled from the age of eight.

During her initial acting years, Duff primarily played minor roles like her uncredited part in the Hallmark Entertainment western miniseries True Women (1997) and as an uncredited extra in the ensemble comedy-drama Playing by Heart (1998). Her first major role was as the young witch Wendy in Casper Meets Wendy, based on the Harvey Comics characters, which was released in 1998. But when so released, it received mostly negative reviews. After appearing in the supporting role of Ellie in the television film The Soul Collector (1999), which was based on a Kathleen Kane novel, Duff accrued a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot (Supporting Young Actress).