Hilary Duff reflected on her child star upbringing at the TIME100 Summit in Manhattan, where Time executive editor Dan Macsai asked if documentaries like “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” or “Framing Britney Spears” changed her perspective on being a child star in the early 2000s.
“I think I feel really quite sad when I watch a lot of those documentaries, for obvious reasons,” Duff said. “I feel very grateful that I wasn’t put in too many positions that left battle wounds on me. But I have held a job as an adult since I was nine years old. I have a very different upbringing. I have a lot of missed experiences, but also a lot of amazing [ones].”
In recent years, a wave of documentaries and longform reporting has exposed the harmful conditions many child stars faced at the turn of the 21st century. The 2024 docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” detailed allegations of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate dynamics involving children and teen stars tied to former Nickelodeon showrunner Dan Schneider, who later sued the producers for defamation, calling the series a “hit job.” A few years prior, FX’s 2021 documentary “Framing Britney Spears” helped legitimize the #FreeBritney movement by detailing the pop star’s struggles growing up in the spotlight.
For Duff, she says the less-rosy side of her Disney Channel years came from the pressures of early responsibility.
“I’m a scrubby kid from Texas,” Duff explained. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘How did I end up here?’ I think it goes to the luck of something, but it doesn’t take away the fact that I’ve worked as an adult since such a young age — and had to be able to hold my own in a room full of adults constantly. I was expected to show up and be professional through exhaustion or sickness or whatever. It’s taught me a lot, and it’s completely formed who I am. And I’m proud of that person.”
Duff, best known for “Lizzie McGuire,” said she’s “finally taking some ownership” of her life with “Luck… or Something,” her first album in over a decade. Calling the work her “boldest and most self-assured,” the former Disney star seems grateful to be settled in a more adult era of her journey.
“Coming up as a child actor, it’s hard to get out of that,” Duff said. ”I’m at 38, and I feel like now I’m finally able to take agency in my life and make decisions that I’m really confident in. Although I did before, but there’s just a level now where I’m like, ‘I’m the adult in the room. Finally!’”
Up next for Duff is “The Lucky Me Tour,” which kicks off in June and runs through February 2027.
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