"Every day is
a surprise. I wake up and I can't believe this
is my job and I get to do this."
— Hilary Duff |
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News |
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August
22, 2005 |
from
madison.com |
Hilary Duff nurtures
squeaky-clean image
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Hilary Duff is 17. That is
almost as surprising as the
fact that she has a pristine
reputation in an age of
tabloid sleaze.
Add to that credits in a
dozen films and her
songwriting work on a third
pop CD, and the girl seems a
modern marvel - for the teen
set, at least.
Duff's film career is
bustling, and for now she's
said goodbye to TV and the
long contracts that come
along with series work, a
telling step for the former
"Lizzie McGuire." Duff is
juggling major Hollywood
productions - including
"Cheaper by the Dozen 2,"
which she recently wrapped -
around a recording career
and tour.
Duff is one of those
multiheaded monsters whose
name is solid gold on TV and
in movie theaters - and
platinum in CD stores. But
unlike peers such as Lindsay
Lohan, Britney Spears and
Jessica and Ashlee Simpson,
Duff is not a regular
feature in the tabloids.
"Luckily I'm pretty absent
from those," Duff said from
her Los Angeles home.
"Sometimes they'll see me
with my boyfriend. And I
just read that my sister and
I almost burned our house
down by trying to toast a
piece of toast, which is
weird because that never
happened.
"I'm not scandalous. I think
it's actually embarrassing
to be in those, yet some
people will do anything to
be in those magazines. I'm
happy with who I am, and I'm
happy with the way people
portray me. If it's too
normal, than that's their
opinion."
Pick through the pages of
supermarket tabs and you'll
see countless pictures of
pregnant Britney walking out
of Starbucks, skinny Lindsay
stumbling outside a club and
flashy Jessica earnestly
defending her marriage. And
while Duff says she's beyond
her beef with Lohan - which
supposedly started when they
were dating the same boy,
Aaron Carter - she still
gets in veiled digs at her
natural competitor.
"I'd rather be seen the way
I am now instead of falling
over myself walking out of a
club," Duff said.
"It's so avoidable. My peers
who are my age who go out
and party and are all over
the magazines, they do it
all for the attention. I go
out to clubs sometimes, but
I have a totally separate
group of friends outside the
business, friends who are
not actors, and we go out,
but we also know there's a
front door and a back door,
and there's one you don't
get seen at. And I don't
mean that in a mean way."
No, she means it in a nice
way. The same way she
diagnoses America's
understandable addiction to
celebrities and celebrity
magazines.
"For somebody living in
Middle America that lives a
completely normal life with
a normal job and normal
clothes and normal school
and normal family, it seems
that these people aren't
even real," Duff said. "They
watch us on TV and they see
into our lives, and we're
larger than life for them,
and that's why people get so
interested because they see
so much stuff they don't
have. The whole lifestyle
and living in L.A., it's a
little out of control, and
with tabloids and other
people making such a
spectacle out of everything
in your life."
But then comes the kicker.
"I just wish the focus was
more on my music and film,"
she said.
Of course she does, but
unless you're 16 or under,
Duff's music and film is
irrelevant to you and your
world. Duff's film credits
range "A Cinderella Story"
to "Agent Cody Banks" to
"The Lizzie McGuire Movie"
to "Cheaper by the Dozen."
Her recording career has
been dictated by the dollar.
She released a Christmas
record in 2002 followed by
"Metamorphosis," in 2003 and
her sophomore album in 2004.
She released releasing a
best-of compilation - yes,
already - with three new
songs.
With her second record, Duff
started co-writing the
material and tackling teeny
subjects such as
ex-boyfriends ("James Dean,"
which may or may not be
addressing Aaron Carter) and
smack-talkers ("Haters,"
which absolutely addresses
Lohan). In "Haters," she
rails: "You look so clean
but you spread your dirt as
if you think that words
don't hurt ... You're the
queen of superficiality/
Keep your lies out of my
reality ... You say your
boyfriend's sweet and kind/
But you've still got your
eyes on mine."
Again, if you're over 21 and
listening to this music then
you either have kids or a
bad case of arrested
adolescence. And Duff knows
that. She understands who
her demo is.
"It's different and all over
the place," she said of her
fan base. "It's 4-year- olds
with their parents, and it's
23- year-old college
students. Sometimes a group
of 19-year-old guys in
Slipknot T-shirts and Rancid
T-shirts shows up, and
that's great, but yeah, it's
mostly teenage girls.
"Just thinking about the
people out there who support
and love you is what makes
me want to keep doing it
all. Despite what you read
about how a 50-year-old
person is reviewing my CD.
My music isn't meant for
him." |
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