The 10 Greatest Things Hilary Duff Has Ever Done

Jonathan Riggs | July 25, 2014 5:42 am

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Duff. And now the prophecy has been fulfilled, pop chyldren: Hilary Duff is back. To usher in this new Hilegendary era, let’s go back, back to the beginning, back to when the Earth and sun and Duff were all aligned to celebrate 10 of the greatest things accomplished by the O.G. Disney multi-hyphenate phenomenon!

10. Lizzie McGuire (2001 – 2004).

It’s impossible to overstate the low-key brilliance of Lizzie McGuire: the show, the movie, the character. Smart, sweet and just the right amount of awkward, the universally appealing Hilary Duff made the painful, confusing journey of growing up seem funny, warm and real. Whether you saw yourself in Lizzie or only wanted to, we all fell in love with her here. (Just ask Gordo.)

9. Being quirky before quirky was cool.

Long before Zooey Deschanel strummed her first ukulele, Hilary was defining “adorkable” — just check out this early interview where she literally tumbles 4 Conan O’Brien.

8. Surviving Duff/Carter/Lohan-gate.

Let’s be honest: we, the public, are like ravenous wildebeests, thirsting for even the slightest tinge of scandal in our rising stars. Someone who grows up in the spotlight can’t escape the double-edged sword nature of fame — imagine if your middle- and high-school era heartbreaks were the stuff of international gossip. To Duff’s credit, she managed to escape her regrettable involvement in the oh-so-00’s-Aaron Carter-Lindsay Lohan-love triangle relatively unscathed…which is saying a lot, seeing where those two ended up. Word to the wise: if it’s Aaron’s or Lindsay’s party…don’t come get it.

7. This gif.

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