Teen singer, actress has no regrets about career

Editor's note: Teen sensation Hilary Duff is busy, really busy, these days as she heads for Saturday's concert. Before Honolulu, she had toured Japan and Australia, and proved to be too elusive for an interview.

Here's an article about Duff, now 17, from the summer, just as her film "A Cinderella Story" was to open (it's now available on DVD). Since then, her other feature, "Raise Your Voice," has been released, and another album, "Hilary Duff," is doing well on the national charts.

By Barry Koltnow
Orange County (Calif.) Register

Hilary Duff 7 p.m. Saturday Blaisdell Arena $48 (877) 750-4400

"There have been some sacrifices," she says candidly. "I know there are big parts of my life that I've probably lost forever, but that's OK. I'm happy.

"If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't trade my life for anyone else's in the world."

In the privacy of her Beverly Hills hotel suite, Duff speaks with the confidence and authority of an adult, but the occasional giggle gives her away.

Mark Rosman first met Duff when she was 12. He directed her in the Disney Channel series "Lizzie McGuire," which is still in reruns; directed her again in "A Cinderella Story"; and will direct her in her next film, "The Perfect Man."

"Not a lot has changed in the four years since I first worked with her," the director said. "When you work with kids, you normally get a canned, processed, kid-acting quality, but she was natural, sweet and genuinely optimistic.

"She's still incredibly sweet and grounded. She could be the model for being a successful teen star who's still a real teen."

Rosman and Duff both credit her mother, Susan, for raising the show-business star as a normal teenager, even though her life seems anything but normal.

Until she was 10, Duff lived in Houston, when her mother moved her two daughters (older sister Haylie is also a singer and actress) to Los Angeles. Her father still runs a business in Houston, and he visits his family about every three weeks.

The first two years in Los Angeles were difficult. The sisters auditioned for hundreds of roles, but neither found much work.

Finally, when she was 12, she won the coveted role on the Disney series. She appeared as Lizzie McGuire for 65 episodes and one feature film, and then shocked Disney and her fans by leaving Lizzie behind to pursue her music and film career.

But her unending string of successes, the lavish lifestyle that accompanies stardom and the inevitable responsibility of being a role model to millions of girls do come with a price. Still, Duff says the price is not too steep.

"It is a burden and it isn't a burden," she said. "It isn't a burden when you're standing in front of thousands of kids at a concert and they're screaming your name and they know all the lyrics to your songs. That is just so exciting. And so flattering.

"And I don't think the role-model thing is a burden. Yes, I have to think twice about how I dress when I go out in public, because kids are watching me. But I don't stress over it. I don't worry about whether I'm dressing too sexy, too edgy, too trendy or anything like that. I do feel the responsibility, however, and that probably means I won't wear anything too revealing. But I wouldn't anyway. That's not the person I am.

"The burden part is having to deal with the people who want to tear you down. Some people think I'm a joke, and I know I shouldn't care what those people think, but it's in my nature to want to make everybody happy.

"Still, all things considered, the good outweighs the bad."

Star shines brightly for Isle youngsters

"A Cinderella Story" is among Hilary Duff's movie credits, but it's her singing — and her "Metamorphosis" CD — that is bringing her to Hawai'i. Advertiser library photo

But when asked why she likes Duff so much, the 5th grader grows serious. "She's sometimes an inspiration to me, when I'm, like, singing chorus," says Kanna, of 'Aina Haina. "I just like her style."

Kanna

Believe it: There appears to be a minor Hilary Duff craze among Island pre-teens. Ticket sales for her one-night only appearance have been brisk; good seats are commanding $175. She has multiple Web sites and a fan club, cell-phone ringtones, and an e-newsletter "to keep you posted on what's going on in Hilary's life."

One glance at her television appearance and international concert tour schedule would exhaust any high-level executive. And the fascination with her has created a promotional effort on its way to challenging the Mary-Kate and Ashley empire.

A People Magazine writer reviewing her film "Raise your Voice," now in theaters, accused Duff of "sitcom-blandness" with "goody-two-shoes" qualities — a refrain repeated by her many critics. Yet the writer quickly adds,

" ... but there could be worse role models for your kids."

As a parent of two pre-adolescent Hilary Duff fans, my response is ... duh! There are worse role models. Everywhere. I still can't figure out what Paris Hilton actually does, and when was the last time Britney's career garnered more publicity than her ill-advised marriages?

And haven't we seen enough of Lindsay Lohan's, um, skin? One reason I adore Duff is because she makes it charming to keep undergarments where they belong and she mostly allows her jeans to reach the base of her shirt.

Indeed, her appeal has nothing to do with the way she dresses, according to my 10-year-old daughter Alison, who furrowed her brow at my investigation into Duff's attire. She enjoys Hilary because of her nice hair and charming smile, and "her songs have a lot of beat."

Murakami

When asked if he likes Hilary Duff, 9-year-old Gino Silvestre of Hawai'i Kai glances at me sideways, highly suspicious of the word "like." Carefully eyeing his peers, he quietly admits that he's watched "Lizzie McGuire" on television.

Why? Other boys answer for him: "You just like her, Gino!" Silvestre responds with an emphatic and extracted, "No!" He regains his composure enough to say, "I just like the episodes." Confronted with the same question, other boys shrug and nod their reluctant approval of Duff, careful not to admit much.

Cindy MacFarlane-Flores, a 3rd- and 4th-grade teacher at Mid-Pacific Institute, has taken advantage of the widespread enthusiasm by ordering an array of Hilary Duff/Lizzie McGuire books for the classroom.

"Right there, they are already interested in reading them," she says. More girls than boys express interest in Duff material, notes MacFarlane-Flores, at least at the younger ages. "It's kind of a girlie thing. But once you get into the older grades, I'm sure they think she's cute."

Nichols

However, not everyone is so enthralled. Jacey Yamura, 9, expresses disappointment that Duff isn't making any new "Lizzie McGuire" episodes. "She doesn't sing well, and her stuff on the Disney Channel is not fun at all," reports Yamura, who favors the more eccentric Raven. Duff's "very boring."

Kanna disputes Yamura's analysis, as do most within earshot. Even in the presence of more famous celebrities in the ensemble cast of "Cheaper by the Dozen," for instance, Duff rose to the occasion. Notes Kanna: "She was still a superstar."

Hilary dishes

On her favorite things: "I love to text message, I love the beach and I love hanging out at coffeehouses with my friends."

On driving: "I got my license, and I love to drive all over L.A. I'm such a good driver."

On going out in public: "I've tried every kind of disguise, but my hair gives me away. So I tried tucking my hair under a baseball cap and wearing sunglasses, but when you see someone wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, aren't you going to look at them and say, 'Who's hiding under there?' "

On movies: "My favorite movie is 'Romy and Michele's High School Reunion' because I love its message about rising above the negativism and jealousy."

On school: "I stopped going to real school in the middle of the fourth grade, and I had tutors after that. I've graduated from high school. My favorite subject was math."

On friends: "I have a small group of friends, and we go everywhere together except the mall, because I can't go to malls anymore. But my friends come with me when I'm on tour."

On her fan base: "I don't get enough credit for my fan base. People think it's just little girls, but my fans range from 4-year-olds to adults. I get a lot of college kids at my concerts, and I even had a 40-year-old couple without kids tell me on a plane that they like my music."