Hilary Duff Hasn’t Totally Ruled Out an Eventual ‘Lizzie McGuire’ Revival
Hilary Duff was every bit as crushed as fans when she announced that plans for the Lizzie McGuire revival on Disney+ fell apart in 2020. However, it seems like she hasn't given up hope that a similar project could take place in the future.
During an appearance on The Cut's podcast In Her Shoes, the Younger star mentioned the possibility of Lizzie McGuire and co. eventually returning to TV screens.
Nothing is set in stone, but Duff — who hit it big playing the adorably quirky McGuire in the early '00s — made it clear that the door is always open.
"It's not dead, and it's not alive," she said, according to The Cut's transcript of the interview. “I think there’s always a possibility there. And even if she’s 40, I don’t think people care. It’s always going to be somewhat interesting to people to see where she ended up.”
Nineties babies across the globe celebrated in 2019 when the reboot was initially announced. Excitement continued to grow as Hallie Todd, Robert Carradine and Jake Thomas — Lizzie's TV family — as well as Adam Lamberg — Lizzie's eventual TV love interest, Gordo — announced plans to reprise their roles.
It was what dreams were made of, until the plans fell through in late 2020. Duff confirmed the cancellation in a statement shared on Instagram. She later told Cosmopolitan that it came in the midst of filming.
"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 wrote on Instagram. "I want any reboot of Lizzie to be honest and authentic to who Lizzie would be today. It's what the character deserves."
Check out her full statement below.
Duff told Cosmopolitan that the reboot intended to depict an adult version of Lizzie McGuire and would have opened with the her having a bit of an identity crisis. "She was falling flat on her face at the moment and being like, 'I need to pivot because everything that I thought was wasn't, and I'm turning 30,'" the actress said.
She added that the timing wasn't right for Lizzie to come back. Meanwhile, rumors swirled that the cancellation had to do with Disney being hesitant to associate the brand with "adult" content.
More adult storylines were essential to Duff, however, who told In Her Shoes that she wanted to deliver an "honest interpretation" of the character's life. She said that it was the only way to stay true to the original show, which did the same for young teens.