WHAT IS it like to be the unpopular new kid in town?
Hilary Duff, 17, admits she doesn't
have much experience in that 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.
Hilary was approached for the
starring role in "Raise Your Voice"
before she cut her first album and
after she finished her "Lizzie
McGuire" movie. In "Raise Your
Voice," she plays Terri.
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 loved 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 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 today like 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 the school and
feeling like the outsider, I kind of
learned how to do that a lot with
Lizzie McGuire because she was the
dork that 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 have that
stage that 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 really my role
model and my inspiration. She's such
a good person and such a strong
person. A lot of people give her
flak for being strong and being
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 I is
kind of weird to me.
For what reason?
Like if [my mom's] 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
for a day. Usually it's an excuse so
I'll stay home and hang out with
her.
What time do you have to
be in?
It all depends. It depends on
where I am, it depends on what I'm
doing. It depends on if I have to
work the next day. She gives me a
lot of freedom and I think that it
must scare her, you know? Having me
leave the house by myself, with my
car. I don't take security around
with me just because it's like I
don't want that. I want to be able
to be free. She has to have a lot of
faith in me and trust in me to be
able to do that, even though it must
scare her. But she does. She gives
me so much freedom. I can be home at
1 or 2 sometimes. And if I'm working
the next day, I'll be really good
and come home at 10.
You have good onscreen
chemistry with Jason Ritter. What's
your relationship with him?
I loved working with Jason. He's
really good at making everybody
laugh. He's really fun, really
lighthearted on set. We really did
have a good time together. We didn't
get to work together that much, but
I think it came across good
onscreen. Kind of like the sneaky
brother and sister relationship.
I think the scene in the car,
even though it was really sad
because he doesn't end up sticking
around for long, was really fun.
Singing together-I totally do stuff
like that with my sister in the car.
Do boys approach you like
Oliver James does in this movie, or
is it more complicated because
you're famous?
I hate that word -- the "f" word
-- but I guess it's more complicated
because of that. It's really 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.
Like the singer from Good
Charlotte.
Actually we're good friends. I
like his band and everything. It
really sucks that people say I'm
dating this person, I'm dating this
person... and make accusations that
aren't true with my personal life.
Then of course everybody has their
opinion on what's right and wrong.
It's hard some times, you know? I'm
not dating him and I don't have a
boyfriend.
I'd like to date someone normal
but how am I supposed to date
someone normal when I don't go to
regular school, I'm never in town,
and I'm always traveling? Nobody
normal will ever come up and talk to
me.
Why is the "feud" between
you and Lindsay Lohan still big news
to people?
I have a feeling that if I was a
normal girl that went to a normal
high school, the high school would
probably talk about it for two days
and then it would be over. But just
because people know who I am and
people know who she is, everybody
loves to talk about it. I don't know
her. I don't care. If you read all
the interviews, I haven't said
anything about it. I try and keep my
mouth shut. That's all I can say.
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