The 31-year-old actress also tells ET the chances that Lizzie's best friends will be back for the Disney+ series 'are high.'
Hilary Duff can't wait to slip back into Lizzie McGuire's shoes.
Hours after Duff revealed that a Lizzie McGuire revival series was officially coming to Disney+, the 31-year-old actress -- who will reprise her role as the beloved Disney heroine -- spoke with ET about the "surreal" feeling returning to the role that made her a star.
"It feels very surreal, to be honest. I've been living with this information for a few months now, so it's been very hard to even contain my excitement," Duff told ET's Ash Crossan on the D23 red carpet after making the announcement on Friday afternoon. "She's such a big part of me and my life, and now she's 30, and I feel like I'm going to have to learn some of her quirky faces again. But I'm excited!"
In the new Lizzie McGuire series from original show creator Terri Minsky, Lizzie is a millennial navigating life in New York City. She is on the cusp of her 30th birthday, working her dream job as the apprentice to a top designer and dating her ideal guy. Most importantly, she will still have 13-year-old Lizzie blabbering around in her head.
"I've been a big part of the process with Terri Minsky and the creative process of where [Lizzie's] been and where she's going and, really, it's a dream come true," Duff said, confirming that Lizzie is "not a mom" in the new Disney+ series.
A mother of two in real life, the Younger star said it'll be "fun" to slip back into Lizzie's shoes and play a character who is just entering her thirties. "We have so many similarities, but our lives are very different. She's been living in New York and I'm not sure how long she's going to stay there, but that's going to all be a part [of the show]," she hinted.
One question Lizzie McGuire fans will ask are if Lizzie's best friends, Miranda and Gordo (played in the original series by Lalaine and Adam Lamberg), would return for the upcoming show. "The chances are high! I can't tell you too much, but I think that people are going to be very surprised and excited," she teased, even sharing that a remix of the official theme song, "What Dreams Are Made Of" is likely. "The possibilities are endless!"
Duff revealed that she's been fielding pitches left and right for storylines for the new Lizzie McGuire series, even from her own personal team. Even her makeup artist came up with a plot idea, with Duff said was "great" and wanted her on the writers' team because of her clear vision of what's been going on with grown-up Lizzie.
"I like it, so any and all pitches are available," Duff explained. "We are in early stages," she said.
Duff, who will be pulling double duty with Younger and Lizzie McGuire, shared that the Disney+ series will likely film in Los Angeles before she jets off to New York City to go into production on season seven of the TV Land comedy.
"It's going to be challenging. Being a mom is my No. 1 role in life, so I'm a little worried, but we're going to make it all happen," she said. "I think that Lizzie is going to shoot here and then I'm going to go to New York [to] shoot a season of Younger, and I just keep juggling it."
The actress has two kids, 7-year-old son Luca and 10-month-old daughter Banks. She shared that her son is familiar with Lizzie McGuire, having "seen some clips on YouTube, and I think he's getting into it," though she admitted that "he's still a little young" and very into Marvel these days. "I don't think I could even tell him that I'm here, if I took pictures with all of these Marvel stars," she said of being at D23. "But he thinks I'm pretty cool and I think he likes seeing me at an age closer to him."
Duff played the titular middle schooler -- and voiced her animated alter ego -- when the show aired for two seasons on Disney Channel from 2001 to 2004, as well as in the 2003 film, The Lizzie McGuire Movie. All 65 episodes of the original series will be made available to stream on Disney+, which officially launches Nov. 12.
Duff, who currently stars on TV Land's Younger, told ET last December that there had been "some conversations" about a Lizzie McGuire revival, though she said at the time, "It's definitely not a go."
Still, she admitted the chance to get to play Lizzie again would be a nice full-circle moment for her career. "I mean, I love her so much," Duff said. "I think she was so important to girls at an important time in their life. If she could be important to them again at this age, I think that would be amazing."
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