Hilary Duff, Almost 19
Hilary and Haylie Duff are sisters and best friends. That's why working on the film "Material Girls," which opened Friday, was more fun than it was work.
"Working on set together makes it much easier, because we have each other there for moral support," Hilary told TheShowbuzz.com's Karina Mahtani. "We just have a lot of fun together."
"We've grown up so close our whole life," added Haylie. "We're best friends and we have been forever."
They agreed that they could be direct with one another in a way they couldn't with other actors.
"We would be able to say to each other 'I need more of this' or 'you need to give me more of that,'" Haylie said.
"You can't say that to another actor," laughed Hilary.
Like most siblings who are close in age, Hilary, 18, and Haylie, 20, have a few little pet peeves about each other.
"We always, will be, like, waiting (for) each other," said Hilary. "I feel like I'm always waiting (for) her."
"Or, like, we fight about who's gonna drive," offered Haylie.
"You always want to drive. Why?" said Hilary, turning to her big sister.
"Because I'm a better driver," said Haylie, matter-of-factly.
"She thinks she's a better driver," said Hilary.
Hilary is best known to a generation of tweens and teens as the star of "Lizzie McGuire," which aired on the Disney Channel from 2001 through 2004. She's also appeared in "Cheaper By The Dozen" and "Cheaper By The Dozen 2" with Steve Martin and in "The Perfect Man" with Heather Locklear.
Haylie is known to film audiences for her role in the off-beat comedy "Napoleon Dynamite." Her television credits include "7th Heaven," "Joan of Arcadia," and "Boston Public."
Hilary, who turns 19 on September 28, plans to gradually take her career in a new direction, looking for edgier roles and more mature music.
"You're gonna see some new stuff, some new movie roles that I'm about to do," Hilary said. "My new album's coming out and it's going to be totally different. Hopefully people will enjoy it just as much."
Hilary acknowledged that growing as an artist without alienating her existing fan base can be tricky.
"It's a fine line that I feel I have to walk until I become a little older and those things become more appropriate," she said.
Hilary dates 27-year-old Joel Madden, lead vocalist of the band Good Charlotte. He and his brother Benji, who's also in the band, co-wrote and co-produced some of the tracks on Hilary's last album.
For now, Joel is focused on his own music.
"Joel and I are doing fine," said Hilary, "and he is actually making his record right now. He's not going to be working on my record."
"Their new album is really great," she gushed, "and I get to hear all the music, but he won't burn me a CD, which makes me so mad. He doesn't want anyone else to hear it or for me to lose it!"
"Yeah, 'cause we'd all be burning copies of it," laughed Haylie.
"But it's really good and I can't wait for people to hear it," said Hilary.
In the meantime, people can see Joel, briefly, in a scene from "Material Girls."
"He and Benji are in 'Material Girls,'" she said. "They do a really quick part. They steal our car!"
By Judy Faber