Hilary Duff On When A 'Lizzie McGuire' Reboot Makes Sense

Hilary Duff Says Potential 'Lizzie McGuire' Reboot Is 'Not in the Cards' Right Now

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If you spent your middle school years watching Lizzie McGuire fumble through adolescence on Disney Channel and now find yourself fumbling through parenthood, Hilary Duff has some news.

The reboot you’ve been waiting for? It’s not happening right now.

But don’t delete it from your wish list just yet — Duff’s reasons are honest, her timeline is surprising, and her relationship with the character has taken a turn nobody saw coming.

The 38-year-old former Disney Channel star appeared on the March 9 episode of the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast, where she addressed the long-awaited Lizzie McGuire reboot head-on.

“I can say that, right now, it’s not in the cards,” she said, alluding to her busy schedule. “I have a world tour to go on and that’s going to take me a few years, I think.”

Duff went on to say that she was always “really excited” to think about Lizzie in her 30s “and going through 30-year-old things,” but now she “can’t really see her at 40.”

“Maybe I could start to see her around 55 (or) 60, and I think that’s interesting,” she added.

So for anyone keeping score at home: Duff doesn’t see a reboot working in the near future, but a version of Lizzie in her late fifties or sixties? That’s still on the table.

The Reboot Has Already Been Tried (and Failed)

This isn’t the first time a Lizzie McGuire comeback has been dangled in front of fans, only to disappear.

Lizzie McGuire ran for 65 episodes on Disney Channel from 2001 to 2004. The Lizzie McGuire Movie followed in 2003.

After the original run wrapped, Disney wanted to transition the show into an ABC spinoff that followed Lizzie into high school, but it fell through.

Then, in 2019, the moment that lit up every millennial group chat arrived.

At the D23 Expo, it was revealed that Duff was in talks to reprise her role for a Disney+ series about Lizzie McGuire in her 30s, with original creator Terri Minski returning as showrunner.

The series only lasted two episodes before being canceled in 2020. Duff announced the cancellation in an Instagram post on Dec. 16, 2020.

That version — a 30-something Lizzie navigating adulthood — felt like it was made for an audience that had grown up right alongside the character.

It Took Duff a Decade to ‘Make Peace’ With Lizzie

During a March 3 appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Duff revealed that it took a solid decade to “make peace” with her Lizzie McGuire character.

“It’s weird to play a character that people fall so in love with that doesn’t grow up. She stays that age and then I grew up,” she told Barrymore.

Duff said the end of her Lizzie era drove her toward music.

“I think that was why I wanted to be a pop star. The second I finished filming Lizzie, I was like, ‘Cool, I don’t want to be called that anymore,” she said.

Now that she’s 20 years removed from the character, her mindset has changed.

“I get to join the fandom and be excited like everybody else, even though I was her,” Duff said.

‘She Lives in There Rent-Free, Baby’

On Shetty’s podcast, Duff did a ‘would you rather’ round that made it clear just how fully she’s embraced her animated alter ego.

“Would you rather have to say, ‘Hi, I’m Hilary Duff and you’re watching Disney Channel,’ every time you introduce yourself or have the Lizzie McGuire animated character in your head at all times?” Shetty asked.

“Oh, she lives in there rent-free baby,” Duff replied.

“I think I would have her living — I mean, I’ve accepted her in my head, so I’m choosing the latter,” she added.

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For parents who grew up with Lizzie McGuire as a companion through the awkwardness of adolescence, Duff’s honesty about personal growth and reinvention might be the best thing she’s offering right now — reboot or not.