Hilary Duff

Hilary Erhard Duff is an American actress, singer-songwriter, businesswoman, and author. She initially gained widespread recognition as a teen idol for playing the title character in the Disney Channel comedy series Lizzie McGuire and its theatrical feature, The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Across her career, she has released multiple studio albums, starred in mainstream and independent films, produced television projects, and established several business and literary ventures.

Duff was born on September 28, 1987, in Houston. Growing up between Houston and San Antonio, she and her older sister, Haylie, enrolled in acting, singing, and ballet classes encouraged by their mother. After performing in local theater and a touring BalletMet production of The Nutcracker, Duff moved to California with her mother and sister in 1993 to pursue an acting career. Following initial commercial work and modeling, she was home-schooled from the age of eight.

Her early acting work included minor roles in True Women and Playing by Heart, followed by her first major role as Wendy in Casper Meets Wendy (1998). She won a Young Artist Award for her supporting role in the television film The Soul Collector (1999) and appeared in episodes of Chicago Hope and Daddio before making her feature film debut in Human Nature (2001). Duff's breakthrough came with the premiere of Lizzie McGuire in 2001. Following the show's success, she starred in films such as Cadet Kelly (2002), Agent Cody Banks (2003), Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), A Cinderella Story (2004), Raise Your Voice (2004), The Perfect Man (2005), Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005), and Material Girls (2006).

Duff launched her recording career with the holiday album Santa Claus Lane (2002). She achieved major commercial success with her second album, Metamorphosis (2003), which topped the Billboard 200 chart, earned a 3× Platinum certification from the RIAA, and featured the singles "So Yesterday" and "Come Clean." Her subsequent music releases included Hilary Duff (2004), the compilation Most Wanted (2005), Dignity (2007), Breathe In. Breathe Out. (2015), and Luck... or Something (2026). She has sold an estimated 15 million records worldwide.

Expanding into independent film, Duff appeared in projects including War, Inc. (2008), According to Greta (2009), Bloodworth (2011), and The Haunting of Sharon Tate (2019). On television, she starred as Kelsey Peters in TV Land's series Younger from 2015 to 2021, and later produced and starred as Sophie Tompkins in the Hulu sitcom How I Met Your Father from 2022 to 2023.

In addition to acting and music, Duff co-authored a New York Times best-selling novel trilogy consisting of Elixir (2010), Devoted (2011), and True (2013). She created fashion and fragrance brands such as Stuff by Hilary Duff, Femme for DKNY, and With Love... Hilary Duff, and serves as Chief Brand Director for home fragrance line Below 60°. Duff was included on Forbes' Celebrity 100 list from 2004 to 2007, ranked on Billboard's Top 100 Women Artists of the 21st Century, and named one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world in 2026.