Those of use who came up in the early aughts of the 2000s can easily identify the Disney Channel icons of that era – and spot them, too. Zenon, Cheetah Girls, the Twitches, Cadet Kelly and the list goes on and on. Yet none of the actors on the network were quite as notorious as Hilary Duff, who played Lizzie McGuire for two seasons on the network. She has since gone on to do a bevy of other movies and shows in her career, including the long-awaited How I Met Your Father spinoff that has caused no shortage of critical debate. Nevertheless, Duff's notoriety hasn’t stopped younger kinds of late from mistaking her for Lindsay Lohan (of all people). No worries, the actress has a funny take (or should we say takedown) of the situation.
First, let’s rewind to the egregious TikTok that started it all. In it, a middle school teacher asked her students to identify several big names from the 2000s. Hilariously, they thought Hannah Montana was some cross between Jojo Siwa, Katy Perry and Britney Spears. Ashley Tisdale's Sharpay from High School Musical (the originals) was likewise confused for Hannah Montana. And of course, a pic of Hilary Duff from her old Lizzie McGuire days was believed to be fellow former child star Lindsay Lohan. If you haven’t already seen it, check out the viral clip below:
Now, to be fair, the two actresses did occupy the Disney Channel roughly around the same time period. While HIMYF star was worrying about getting her first bra as Lizzie McGuire, the Parent Trap icon was the lead in the iconic DC original movie Get a Clue in 2002. However, the comparisons stop there – and Duff let the youth know just that. See the response from her Instagram stories here:
What’s sad is, even if the kiddies saw the HIMYF star’s take on their error, they probably still don’t get the references being made. Which must mean I’m probably getting too old… I humbly admit to not knowing much myself about any of Disney Channel’s recent lineups, beyond that Zendaya and Olivia Rodrigo are exports from it for the Gen Z set (to much success). Hilary Duff, clearly though, doesn’t have any further intention of being a saint for those younger audiences anymore.
Despite what the recent whoopsie-daisy suggests, the star remains a prolific actress, as I said. She starred on the TV Land series Younger for seven seasons and just recently got a Season 2 renewal for HIMYF. Similarly, Lindsay Lohan would delve into much more adult subject matter in her subsequent films. She’s lately been on a 2-year hiatus from movie-making but these kids might recognize the actress when her new Christmas movie drops on Netflix. (Or…will they just confuse her with her fellow Disney kid…?)
Either way, for my early 2000s purposes (and apparently educational) purposes, me and the youth are gonna need that defunct Lizzie McGuire revival to finally be released… if nothing else. In the meantime, fans can check out the 5 Marvel characters we think Hilary Duff would be perfect for or get up to scratch on HIMYF with a Hulu subscription.
