Duff, Hilary Ann (1987– )

US actor and pop singer. She launched her career with US cable network the Disney Channel's popular series Lizzie McGuire (2001–03), in which she played the title role of a young adolescent, and she went on to pursue careers in film and pop music, establishing herself as a leading teen actor and a more wholesome rival to pop sensation Britney Spears.

After releasing several singles and a Christmas album, she released the album Metamorphosis in 2003, featuring the hit single ‘So Yesterday’.

She was born in Houston, Texas, and from an early age started performing on stage as a ballet dancer and as an actor in television advertisements. Her first television role was in the mini-series True Women (1997), and she was critically acclaimed for her starring role in the TV film The Soul Collector (1999). She starred in the film adaptation of her popular television series, The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), and sang several singles for the film's soundtrack, which went platinum. Other films include the children's film Agent Cody Banks (2003), the comedy Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), the modern fairy-tale A Cinderella Story (2004), and the romance Raise Your Voice (2004).