Hilary Duff didn’t just stumble into the world of pop stardom after becoming a Disney Channel star. She says she actively pursued music as a way to move beyond her beloved television persona.
During a conversation with Drew Barrymore on The Drew Barrymore Show, Duff ruminated on the complicated experience of growing up in the public eye and being forever associated with Lizzie McGuire, the titular character she played on the Disney Channel series from 2001 to 2004.
Barrymore asked Duff whether she ever consciously tried to prove herself or others that she was no longer Lizzie McGuire, particularly as she began to grow up.
“I think that was why I became — I wanted to be a pop star,” Duff said. “You know, the second I finished filming Lizzie, I was like, ‘Cool. I don’t want to be called that anymore.’ And I’m going to be — I’m going to make music and I’m going to get a record deal and I’m going to be a pop star.”
“And you did,” Barrymore replied.
“I did,” Duff said.
Duff’s transition from Disney star to recording artist quickly became one of the defining chapters of her early career. Her 2003 album Metamorphosis peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making Duff a chart-topping pop artist while she was still in her teens. Her 2005 compilation Most Wanted also reached No. 1, and to this day, she’s had seven songs hit the Billboard Hot 100.
Duff says the transition wasn’t necessarily as simple emotionally as it might have looked from the outside. During her conversation with Barrymore, she explained that it took her about a decade to make peace with the fact that Lizzy McGuire would remain frozen in time for audiences while she continued growing up.
“It’s weird to play a character that people fall so in love with that doesn’t grow up,” Duff said. “She stays that age, and then I grew up.”
Duff added that she eventually became “obsessed” with Lizzie and learned to appreciate the character alongside the fans, but said there was a period when it was difficult to change and evolve while constantly being identified with her Disney alter ego.
Barrymore, who also grew up in the spotlight, connected Duff’s experience to her own childhood roles. The two discussed how audience can attach themselves to the younger versions of actors they grew up watching, even as those performers continue to age and establish identities of their own.
For Duff, music became part of that evolution.
She went on to release Metamorphosis in 2003, followed by albums including Hilary Duff, Dignity and Breathe In. Breathe Out. Her latest album, luck… or something, arrived in February 2026 after more than a decade between studio albums. Billboard previously reported that the 11-track project excitedly signaled Duff’s return to music through Atlantic Records.
More than two decades after Lizzie McGuire premiered, Duff is starting to embrace both sides of her legacy. Her latest era incorporates her latest hits while introducing audiences to the adult artist she has become. In the Barrymore interview, she said performing now has allowed her to reconnect with the audience that grew up alongside her while also sharing new music that showcases their lives as adults.
“It’s like I get to have these pillars of my old music, which feels so nostalgic and makes people find that kid in them again,” Duff said. “But then also [I can] share my new music, which is like, introducing all of us as adults.”
Watch the full interview with Duff and Barrymore below.
