Hilary Duff felt "a lot of frustration" when she was typecast as Lizzie McGuire.
The 33-year-old actress shot to fame playing the titular character in the hit sitcom ‘Lizzie McGuire’ as a teenager between 2001 and 2004.
And the ‘Younger’ star – who has son Luca, eight, with ex-husband Mike Comrie and 22-month-old daughter Banks with spouse Matthew Koma – has admitted that before she became a mother she struggled with the "weight" of only being seen as her alter go.
The ‘Cheaper By The Dozen’ star revealed that when she auditioned for other roles, she’d always get the response of: ‘She’s so great… but she’s Hilary Duff.’
Speaking to the November issue of Cosmopolitan UK – of which she is the cover star – Hilary said: "I’m at such a different place in my life now, being a mother and a wife – it doesn’t weigh on me any more. I don’t feel like people only see me that way, but [even] when they do, I feel appreciative of it because she was very impactful on so many people’s lives."
She continued: "I definitely went through big frustrations of being like, ‘Why can I not get a shot at being someone else? Not that I want to dog every casting director out there, but there’s a very small handful of people who are character actors and can be hired for roles that are truly different from one another. From age 21 to 25, before I became a mom, there was a lot of frustration. I would get to producer callback and they’d be like, ‘She’s so great and she gave us the best reading and blah blah blah, but she’s Hilary Duff…’"
On top of being typecast, Hilary spent much of her teenage years feeling isolated and found being a role model a big responsibility.
Asked about her memories of being a teenage star, she replied: "Isolation… and the pressure of being a role model."
Meanwhile, a reboot of ‘Lizzie McGuire’ was put on hold earlier this year, reportedly because Disney+ wanted a family-friendly programme, which both the actress and creator Terri Minsky disagreed with.
But Hilary has admitted she’s "confident" they can make the show how she wants, but she wouldn’t want to do it if it means she can’t "do right" by those who watched it growing up and are now in their 30s.
She explained: "There’s still no, like, ‘For sure, this is happening,’ but I think they’re pretty confident that we can make the show that I want, and that they want, for Disney+. I really want to do right by 30-year-olds who grew up with Lizzie and still have that 12-year-old voice inside of them, cheering them on but also making them feel like an idiot at times. But, you know, 30-year-olds have sexual experiences and drink alcohol so I think they’re just trying to wrap their heads around what that looks like, on that platform. I don’t want to do it unless I can speak to the people I care about, and [Lizzie] can be there for those people again."
Read the full interview in the November issue of Cosmopolitan on sale on October 1 or by visiting: www.cosmopolitan.com/UK/HilaryDuffCover