Posted in: Hulu, Quibi, streaming, TV | Tagged: hilary duff, HIMYF, How I Met Your Father, hulu, lizzie mcguire

Hilary Duff Thinks Disney "Got Spooked" by Her Lizzie McGuire Vision

Before Hilary Duff and Hulu teamed up for streaming success with the first season of the "How I Met Your Mother" spinoff series How I Met Your Father, there was an effort to bring back Duff's popular character Lizzie McGuire for a reboot series at Disney+. Now, we spent a good chunk of 2020 covering the creative tug-of-war between Duff and Disney+/Hulu over the direction of Lizzie's return. Much like with Zoe Kravitz's High Fidelity (surprisingly canceled after only one well-received season), Duff was looking to take the character in a more modern, realistic direction that would've necessitated a move to Hulu. Apparently, "The Mouse" wasn't interested in any take on Lizzie McGuire that wasn't family-friendly enough to appear on its then-new streaming service. In December 2020, Duff would confirm that the project was officially dead (after reportedly at least two episodes were filmed). Speaking with Women's Health for a profile interview (and with HIMYF set to start filming its second season next month), Duff discussed how there had been numerous discussions & offers to revive the character over the years before the most recent effort for Disney+.

As for why the series that would've reunited her with original series creator Terri Minsky and costars Lalaine, Adam Lamberg, Jake Thomas, Hallie Todd & Robert Carradine didn't materialize, Duff believes it boiled down to two conflicting visions for the character that couldn't be reconciled. "She had to be 30 years old doing 30-year-old things," Duff explained, with her take on the character being one focused on having a more realistic life for the now-older Lizzie (more on Duff's view on that below). "She didn't need to be doing bong rips and having one-night stands all the time, but it had to be authentic. I think they got spooked," Duff added.

"I like the way you think. I would be lying if I didn't say I didn't have those thoughts a few times. But I wouldn't because, in my 34 years, I've realized that everything does happen for a reason, " Duff joked with a Cosmopolitan interviewer back in January when it was suggested that Duff find a way to leak the episodes that were filmed before offering her philosophy on the entire experience. "There's a time and a place for everything. It just wasn't her moment. I'm constantly asked about it still. All it does is breathe life into the fact that people still want it, and that's really sweet. It's not dead, and it's not alive." So to us, that sounds like Lizzie's in limbo right now. But just in case it doesn't happen, what could Duff share about where Lizzie's at in life when we would've reconnected with her? Enough to leave us feeling concerned. "My character was moving back home with her parents because she caught her soon-to-be fiancé cheating on her, and she was falling flat on her face at the moment and being like, 'I need to pivot because everything that I thought was wasn't, and I'm turning 30. What the fuck?"," Duff revealed. But for your Duff fix, head on over to Hulu now to check out How I Met Your Father (with filming on the second season beginning this June).

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