If you recall the early days of Hilary Duff‘s career, then you surely remember her as the lovable young teenager Lizzie McGuire. While it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone else in the role, it turns out that Duff could have lost the job because she had just been fired from another gig when she was just 11 years old.
“I had just gotten replaced off of a TV show because they replaced me with twins, so they could work longer hours,” she told Variety. “And I remember being like, ‘I got fired. 11 years old and I got fired from a job.’ It was like absolutely devastating.”
At that point, Duff considered quitting show business and “decided that I wanted to go back to Texas and be a ‘normal kid.’” She recalled, “My manager called my mom and was like, ‘Disney wants to see Hilary for this thing.’”
That “thing” was “Lizzie McGuire.” However, Duff was still feeling down about getting fired and that ended up affecting her audition.
Hilary’s First Audition Didn’t Go Well
When Duff showed up for her “Lizzie McGuire” audition, she wasn’t at the top of her game.
She told Variety, “I walked in and I was super unprepared. It was like a monologue.”
Apparently, the actress will “never forget” that Robin Lipinets, the casting director pointed out that Duff wasn’t trying her best. The star remembered, “She was like, ‘You’re not very prepared for this.’”
Although Duff admits that she was embarrassed by the situation, she said, “I always kind of love a challenge.”
Hilary Got Another Chance to Audition for ‘Lizzie McGuire’
Fortunately for Duff, the casting director was willing to give her a second chance.
According to the star, Lipinets asked, “‘Can you go be better prepared and come back tomorrow?’ And I was like ‘Yes I can.’”
And that’s exactly what she did. In fact, she told Variety, “I came back the next day and I was completely off book. And I had it down and I actually loved the sides.”
Duff obviously nailed that audition and went on to do others for the part. One involved her showing off her special talent. While you might assume that she sang for the audition (since she’s also quite the singer), she actually walked on her hands as her skill. She admits, “I think I was trying to shock everybody. And then I got the job.”
