Hilary Duff hints she might revisit Lizzie McGuire at age 60

Hilary Duff has opened up about her disappointment that Disney scrapped the planned revival of her iconic Lizzie McGuire series, saying the company was “a little scared” to bring the character into adulthood.

The 38-year-old star, who originally played the titular role in the early 2000s hit, told i-D magazine that she was eager to explore what Lizzie’s life would look like as a grown-up.

“I’m sad [those ideas] are going to waste, but maybe I feel slightly happy because I don’t know if I would have made music a priority,” Duff said. 

“But I’m sad that we didn’t get to explore what her life would be like now. I have a great relationship with Disney, so no disrespect, but I feel like they should have listened to me. I’m the age of the people that would watch this, and I know what they would want.”

Duff explained that her vision wasn’t “crazy,” but simply aimed to present Lizzie as an adult navigating life. “It wasn’t like I wanted something crazy, but I wanted her to be grown up. I think they were a little scared,” she added.

While she hasn’t ruled out revisiting the character entirely, Duff said she would prefer to wait a few decades before stepping into Lizzie’s shoes again. “I feel like I wouldn’t do it at 40, but I might do it at 60,” she said.

In a previous interview on Jake Shane’s Therapuss, Duff said Disney wasn’t “willing” to fully embrace a 30-something Lizzie. 

She recalled discussions about keeping the character realistic to her own age at the time of filming.

“I think that there were just disagreements on how far we could take [Lizzie] and where she is,” Duff said. 

“She would have been 30 or 31, and I was that age too, so I felt deeply connected to her as a character. I wasn’t trying to have her wake up and do bong rips or anything, but she was a normal 30-year-old… and there were some things they just weren’t totally willing to go there.”

The series, which also starred Adam Lamberg, Jake Thomas, and Hallie Todd, remains one of Disney Channel’s most beloved franchises, and fans continue to hope for a thoughtful return in the future.