Hilary Duff Photo Gallery, News, Interviews, Biography

By Rebecca Murray	Taken From philstar.com
What’s it like to be the unpopular new kid in town? Hilary Duff admits she doesn’t have much experience in this regard. But in the teen drama Raise Your Voice, her character goes through that and more in her quest to follow her dream of being a singer. The idea for Raise Your Voice came from New Line music executive Mitch Rotter. "We had wanted to do a truly music-driven film, something just short of a ‘sing at the drop of a hat’ musical, where the music was as much a part of the narrative as any of the other elements," says Rotter. Hilary Duff was approached for the starring role before cutting her first album, and after finishing her Lizzie McGuire movie. Producer Sara Risher feels the camera really loves Hilary and says, "She has such a dynamic screen presence and it was just very serendipitous that it all came together and we were able to cast her in this film." Once Hilary was onboard, the film, which had been stalled in the pre-production phase, began picking up speed. Hilary talks about herself and her Raise Your Voice role: Is it normal for you to have so many projects going on in one year? You know what? It seems kind of normal now. I think there’s really no way to prepare yourself, to say, "Oh, I’ve got all this going on." You just do it. It’s like I want to be able to do all of these things, and I have to be really prepared to do it. It doesn’t really bother me, every day thinking I’m going to have to switch modes to singing or acting or traveling, or this, that and the other. You just kind of do it. It’s just kind of natural. Is it the nervous, raw energy that keeps you going? I think so. The energy is addicting, almost. Even though it’s really hard work, I don’t think you could do it unless you love it. I love it, but it definitely keeps me going. A new place every night – doing this, doing that – it’s crazy. In Raise Your Voice, you’re playing the outsider. In real life, you’ve been a star for a while. How do you get those feelings of not belonging to come out for an acting job? It was hard. People have been asking me what the most challenging part of the movie was, and it wasn’t the crying scenes. I think that’s much easier than trying to make people laugh. Crying on command is not that difficult. But the parts that were harder for me were after the tragedy happens to Terri in her life, it’s kind of like just like a closed-off, numb feeling. She doesn’t feel any emotion – no happiness, no sadness. She’s kind of like nothing. That was the hardest thing for me. And then going to school and feeling like the outsider, I kind of learned how to do that a lot with Lizzie McGuire because she was the dork who didn’t really fit in. And everybody kind of made Terri feel very unwelcome at the school at first. Is your relationship with your mother similar to the relationship your character has with her mom in this movie? My relationship with my mom is so amazing. We never got to that stage people go through, like when you’re 13 and you think you’re too cool for your parents, when you’re embarrassed by them and stuff. We never went through that because I was constantly working and she constantly had to be there. We just became best friends. I tell her everything. She’s my role model and inspiration. She’s such a good, strong person. A lot of people give her flack for being strong and smart, but I think I envy that in her. Did you have curfews growing up? I still have curfews and sometimes I get grounded, which is kind of weird to me. For what reason? Like if (my mom) asked me to do something more than once or twice. I always get in trouble for not pulling my car into the garage, because if I don’t pull my car in, her car won’t fit. So I get in trouble for that, but it only lasts a day. Usually it’s an excuse so I’ll stay home and hang out with her (laughing). What time do you have to be in? It depends on where I am, it depends on what I’m doing. It depends if I have to work the next day. She gives me a lot of freedom and I think it must scare her, having me leave the house by myself, with my car. I don’t take security around with me. I don‘t want that. I want to be free. My mom has to have a lot of faith and trust in me to do that, even though it must scare her. But she does. She gives me so much freedom. I can be home at 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. sometimes. And if I’m working the next day, I’ll be really good and come home at 10 p.m. How important is it to kids to pick up musical instruments ? I think so much of that has gone away. So many schools are getting rid of music programs and it’s really sad because I know that when I started singing and stuff it was something I always wanted to do. I never believed in myself to be able to do it. I think it’s so important. It opens someone up and you’re able to learn about yourself. You feel you‘re worth something. When I got into music, I started feeling very motivated because I wanted to achieve this challenging thing. I think it‘s really important if it’s the piano or the guitar or the bass or drums or singing or anything. It’s so important to have music in your life. Do boys approach you like Oliver James does in this movie, or is it more complicated because you’re famous? I hate the ‘f’ word, but I guess it’s more complicated because of that. It’s sad. I don‘t have a boyfriend and I’m not dating anybody. I read that I’m dating new people all the time but I’m definitely not.