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Did Hilary Duff ruin or revive her career trajectory?


rik

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I need to be very honest with this thread, I loved Hilary growing up and will always have a special place in my heart for her. This isn’t necessarily a criticism of her acting abilities, as growing up I do believe in the end she did a good job at entertaining her demographic.

that being said, with the end of Younger and the start of her main producer credit and star in How I Met Your Father, I question if Hilary’s career could’ve taken a different trajectory had something changed at a specific year or time in her career. Alternatively one could say she landed a television cameback in a big way with younger and how I met your father after a longer hiatus.

while this is true I personally feel like the trajectory of her career was changed but I’m not sure when. I’m not at all saying it’s bad she took a break btw. Let’s discuss 


 

She had a lot of commercial success with Cinderella story, Lizzie McGuire, cheaper by the dozen, and even the DVD cult following of raise your voice. Her albums, while not necessarily original were still successful and accompanied the Hilary Duff “brand” really well.

After these films and teen pop rock albums she experienced a real commercial and critical dud (not that any were actually that greatly received tbh lol) with material girls.
 

 

she then released UK inspired electro dance pop  dignity which was positively received. She lost part of her demographic but that should be expected with an image change and sound evolution 

 

 

 

After this she focused more on acting. she took on more mature indie roles in films including What Goes Up (originally titled Safety Glass), According to Greta, amongst others. her role as  Greta was a standout role for her. In the film she plays a teenager who has a plan to check everything off her list of things to do before she kills herself at 18 while she spends the summer at her grandparents’ house in jersey. This was of course was an indie film and subject to a series of delays.  she also was on some ABC  movie that did well however, again because it was a made for TV movie … but a pretty big departure for someone who had made it to big screen movies people watched and paid money to see

 

She got married and had a child, prior to releasing 2015’s Breathe in Breathe Out which made a moderate impact on iTunes for a bit? But nothing that resonated with the kids that originally grew up with her (I was 17/18 when all this was happening). Younger coming out that same year was watched by a fair bit fo people at least for the earlier seasons? And survived on TV land because it’s Darren Starr and because people liked the show. While she obviously excels more on television critically, was there ever a moment where she could have made the transition to a fully blown actress? Potentially on her way to Jennifer Aniston or Julia Roberts box office gold as an adult actress?? 

even if she never was in line for an Oscar could she still be considered a a commercially successful actress today had she acted at the right time? Was an opportunity missed? Was there perhaps an issue with the types of roles she was picking? or do you think she is exactly where she should be? Relatively commercially successful on TV!
 

as for music I feel like she was fading out nevertheless xxxx tell me your thoughts 

@SlayOut @PokemonSpears @Midnight @I Always Sing Live

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:mj_reading_paper_michael_jackson_blinking_glasses: Let's see... I think her acting career starting going downhill when she did Material Girls with her sister, that was her first misstep. She also shouldn't have taken a very long hiatus and shouldn't have focused on indie movies a bit too much. I know she did it because she wanted to be taken more seriously as an actress and wanted to make a departure from her previous work, but I still think she could have taken some major roles in between, just to keep her name out there to remind the world that she's Hilary Duff. 

As for music, I think changing her style was a very smart move. While she gained a lot of fans with her pop rock music, this transition was necessary. I would never say no to Dignity. She didn't become a more successful musician because she wasn't consistent with her releases, because she clearly had the support and talent to continue with a modest music career. 

:jamie_lynn_grape: 

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I don't find Hilary interesting. She's a bland actress, a limited singer and she can't dance. I still don't get how she was the it girl at her peak.

She was a fad of her time, if you ask me why she doesn't have a succesful career now it's because she doesn't have the talent, simple as that.

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I wanna be there when you touch fire

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14 minutes ago, Midnight said:

I don't find Hilary interesting. She's a bland actress, a limited singer and she can't dance. I still don't get how she was the it girl at her peak.

She was a fad of her time, if you ask me why she doesn't have a succesful career now it's because she doesn't have the talent, simple as that.

Cheering Rooting GIF

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I think where she went wrong is that she just stopped releasing music consistently and took too many breaks.

I mean I get that most of them were cause she got married and had a family but still...

I feel like she had an opportunity to revive her music career in 2015 but she just gave up on it cause it flopped.

It seems like she doesn't have the drive and hunger for success cause she's more focused on her family,

which is GOOD but yeah thats what i think.

 

Oh and btw I was a BIG BIG fan of Hilary when I was a kid! She was my first album and concert! 

I'll always hold her in a special place in my heart.

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38 minutes ago, Midnight said:

I don't find Hilary interesting. She's a bland actress, a limited singer and she can't dance. I still don't get how she was the it girl at her peak.

She was a fad of her time, if you ask me why she doesn't have a succesful career now it's because she doesn't have the talent, simple as that.

Disappointed Hate GIF by King of Boys

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4 minutes ago, InTheZone4Life said:

I think if you could say that she “ruined” her career, it wasn’t really entirely her fault. There were some missteps but also she could’ve had any rom com role she wanted back in the day. Her music was consistently connecting with her family base. She had a successful tv show. She was doing really well. Then she wanted to do something different and that’s when she floundered a bit. I wouldn’t be surprised if it had something to do with her recovery from an eating disorder, but she really took a step back from the spotlight. She wrote a couple books, she released a fragrance and partnered with Candie’s. Had indie films, etc. She had a couple soundtrack songs. She never really stopped working, she just took a step back from major roles. Younger really took off. She was one of the best parts of it. She really got to show an adult side of her we haven’t gotten to see. I’d say she is definitely in a career renaissance of sorts. She is taking on new roles in the spotlight but ones that are a little more grown up. She knows her brand is the good girl and she sticks with it. She realizes now how much of asset that can be for her. She can sell in middle America what the crazy antics of other pop stars can’t. Her name has credibility. It comes with an expectation of quality. Can’t fault a girl for that. 
 

These people who say she isn’t talented need to realize Hilary Duff IS the blueprint. Without Hilary, there’s no Raven, there’s no Miley, no Selena, Demi, Olivia Rodrigo, Vanessa Hudgens, nothing. She was the one that showed that Disney stars could do anything they wanted and they could be an entire brand. :endit_sunglasses_fab_yas_queen:

Nah, Melissa Joan Hart was her blueprint. Hilary was MJH combined with Britney. 

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2 hours ago, Rik said:

I need to be very honest with this thread, I loved Hilary growing up and will always have a special place in my heart for her. This isn’t necessarily a criticism of her acting abilities, as growing up I do believe in the end did a good job at entertaining her demographic.with the end of Younger and the start of her main producer credit and star in How I Met Your Father, I question if Hilary’s career could’ve taken a different trajectory had something changed at a specific year or time in her career. Alternatively one could say she big television cameback in a big way with younger and how I met your father after a longer hiatus.

while this is true I personally feel like the trajectory of her career was changed but I’m not sure when. I’m not at all saying it’s bad she took a break btw. Let’s discuss 


 

She had a lot of commercial success with Cinderella story, Lizzie McGuire, cheaper by the dozen, and even the DVD cult following of raise your voice. Her albums, while not necessarily original were still successful and accompanied the Hilary Duff “brand” really well.

After these films and teen pop rock albums she experienced a real commercial and critical dud (not that any were actually that greatly received tbh lol) with material girls.
 

 

she then released UK inspired electro dance pop  dignity which was positively received. She lost psrt of her demographic but thag should be expected 

 

 

 

After this she focused more on acting. she took on more mature indie roles in films including What Goes Up (originally titled Safety Glass), According to Greta, amongst others. her role as  Greta was a standout role for her. In the film she plays a teenager who has a plan to check everything off her list of things to do before she kills herself at 18 while she spends the summer at her grande parents in jersey. This was of course was an indie film and subject to a series of delays.  she also was on some laabc movie that did well however, again because it was a made for TV movie … but a pretty big departure for someone who had made it to big screen movies people watched and paid money to see

 

She got married and had a child, prior to releasing 2015’s Breathe in Breathe Out which made a moderate impact on iTunes for a bit? But nothing that resonated with the kids that originally grew up with her (I was 17/18 when all this was happening). Younger coming out that same year was watched by a fair bit fo people at least for the earlier seasons? And survived on TV land because it’s Darren Starr and because people liked the show. While she obviously excels more on television critically, was there ever a moment where she could have made the transition to a fully blown actress? Potentially on her way to Jennifer Aniston or Julia Roberts box office gold as an adult actress?? 

even if she never was in line for an Oscar could she still be considered a a commercially successful actress today had she acted at the right time? Was an opportunity missed? Was there perhaps an issue with the types of roles she was picking? or do you think she is exactly where she should be? Relatively commercially successful on TV!
 

as for music I feel like she was fading out nevertheless xxxx tell me your thoughts 

@SlayOut @PokemonSpears @Midnight @I Always Sing Live

She never really grew out of that sweet girl image people fell in love with her for. always stayed a goody goody, which she still is, and also proves that she always was and still is her authentic self. Stayed in her comfort zone and knows her own limits. So I say she’s right where she should be. 

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37 minutes ago, InTheZone4Life said:

I think if you could say that she “ruined” her career, it wasn’t really entirely her fault. There were some missteps but also she could’ve had any rom com role she wanted back in the day. Her music was consistently connecting with her family base. She had a successful tv show. She was doing really well. Then she wanted to do something different and that’s when she floundered a bit. I wouldn’t be surprised if it had something to do with her recovery from an eating disorder, but she really took a step back from the spotlight. She wrote a couple books, she released a fragrance and partnered with Candie’s. Had indie films, etc. She had a couple soundtrack songs. She never really stopped working, she just took a step back from major roles. Younger really took off. She was one of the best parts of it. She really got to show an adult side of her we haven’t gotten to see. I’d say she is definitely in a career renaissance of sorts. She is taking on new roles in the spotlight but ones that are a little more grown up. She knows her brand is the good girl and she sticks with it. She realizes now how much of asset that can be for her. She can sell in middle America what the crazy antics of other pop stars can’t. Her name has credibility. It comes with an expectation of quality. Can’t fault a girl for that. 
 

These people who say she isn’t talented need to realize Hilary Duff IS the blueprint. Without Hilary, there’s no Raven, there’s no Miley, no Selena, Demi, Olivia Rodrigo, Vanessa Hudgens, nothing. She was the one that showed that Disney stars could do anything they wanted and they could be an entire brand. :endit_sunglasses_fab_yas_queen:

Beautifully said darling :tysm_beyonce_thanks_wow_gratitude_love_you_ily:

Queen Hilary forever, HIMYF is actually so good? :lizzie_oops_dancing_red_maguire_hillary_duff:

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Aside from the “sparks” music video (AKA the tinder ad), the oversized veneers she once had, and the “with love” choreography, Hilary can do no wrong in my opinion.

But I do find it cringe that she’s married to the man who produced “swimming in the stars”…I hate that song and it sounds like an unfinished demo that was recorded inside of a dishwasher.

But I stan Hilary. Thats It Hilary Duff GIF by YoungerTV

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Her career started to go downhill with Material Girls, and she also was not looking healthy. It was very clear she was too skinny and pretty sure was anorexic. It changed her face and she didn't even look as pretty anymore so that clearly hurt her career somewhat in movies. Then after Material Girls, she wanted to start taking on indie movies to try and get taken seriously as an actress but the movies were not good. Her "Dignity" album was good, but you could tell she was starting to be burnt out from music and maybe the business in general. She had been doing it since she was a kid.

Her comeback with Breathe In, Breathe Out wasn't handled correctly and Chasing The Sun being the lead single was tragic. So many people thought that was a weak lead single after being gone for so many years. Unfortunately, she had a lot of mishaps and didn't care to promote her album or tour and gave up on the album super quick. It's shocking we even got the album at all and it wasn't shelved. I think Hilary is now doing the career she wants these days, she wants a show and a normal schedule that she can go back to her kids after filming. She doesn't care to be a huge movie star anymore and I don't think she cares at all about music anymore either. Maybe once her kids grow up, maybe she will try and tour again and do music but I doubt it?

By the way, she came back looking refreshed, BEAUTIFUL and healthy. She looks stunning again. I'm so glad she took time off.

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10 minutes ago, gapeach704 said:

Aside from the “sparks” music video (AKA the tinder ad), the oversized veneers she once had, and the “with love” choreography, Hilary can do no wrong in my opinion.

But I do find it cringe that she’s married to the man who produced “swimming in the stars”…I hate that song and it sounds like an unfinished demo that was recorded inside of a dishwasher.

But I stan Hilary. Thats It Hilary Duff GIF by YoungerTV

I didn;t know she was married to that producer. I am now like 99% positive that Hilary does the strong backing vocals on the chorus when she sings "Headfirst, all the way down
In gravity's arms we'll drown" LOL THAT IS HILARY  DUFF!!! :lizzie_oops_dancing_red_maguire_hillary_duff:

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3 minutes ago, cubasterd said:

I didn;t know she was married to that producer. I am now like 99% positive that Hilary does the strong backing vocals on the chorus when she sings "Headfirst, all the way down
In gravity's arms we'll drown" LOL THAT IS HILARY  DUFF!!! :lizzie_oops_dancing_red_maguire_hillary_duff:

Yep that’s him and most likely her vocals.

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