The 34-year-old actress had a vision for her Disney character that may have been spooky.
Hilary Duff had a vision for what her Lizzie McGuire character should be like all grown up and in her 30s, but it may have "spooked" Disney brass and, in turn, been the reason why the reboot went kaput.
The 34-year-old actress reveals in a Women's Health cover story that, after multiple passes on offers to reboot the popular Disney series, she finally agreed to revisit the role that defined her career. But, according to the magazine, the project tanked in 2020 after Duff and the network differed on their vision for adult Lizzie.
"She had to be 30 years old doing 30-year-old things," Duff explains. "She didn't need to be doing bong rips and having one-night stands all the time, but it had to be authentic. I think [the network] got spooked."
The plan came to fruition in 2019 when Disney announced Duff and the OG cast would return for a reboot. The original series aired 65 episodes and spawned a movie. Things looked optimistic for the reboot, so much so that Disney+ reportedly shot two episodes of the reboot before the network pulled the plug. Duff took to Instagram in December 2020 and made the news official.
“I know the efforts and conversations have been everywhere trying to make a reboot work but, sadly & despite everyone’s best efforts, it isn’t going to happen," she said in a statement. "I want any reboot of Lizzie to be honest and authentic to who Lizzie would be today. It’s what the character deserves. We can all take a moment to mourn the amazing womanish would have been and the adventures we would have taken with her. I’m very sad, but I promise everyone tied their best and the stars just didn’t align."
Duff posed nude for the magazine's Body Issue, and, within the issue, reveals why she decided to do so.
"I'm proud of my body. I'm proud that it's produced three children for me," she tells the magazine. "I've gotten to a place of being peaceful with the changes my body has gone through. I also want people to know a makeup artist was there putting glow all over my body and someone put me in the most flattering position."
For the issue, Duff also underscores the importance of taking care of one's mental health.
"We bust our a** to get our bodies in shape and to look the best we can," she explains. "We get facials and Botox and our hair done and highlights and brows and lash lifts and all this s**t. But I want to work on the inside. That’s the most important part of the system."
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