“Lizzie McGuire” Star Spills Post-Reboot Tea, Reveals How Hilary Duff Landed the Role (Hint: It Wasn’t Her Audition
Oh, *this* is rich. Just when you thought the corpse of the *Lizzie McGuire* reboot had been thoroughly buried, Jake Thomas — a.k.a. Matt McGuire, the perpetually annoying little brother — decides to exhume it and offer his grand insights into where everyone’s favorite animated-thought-bubble-toting teen would be today. According to an exclusive chat with E! News, Thomas, now 35, believes his character, Matt, would still be lobbing “cheap shots” at Hilary Duff’s Lizzie, even while they’re “helping each other deal with the big, adult issues.” Because, apparently, some sibling dynamics are so profoundly groundbreaking they transcend time and network cancellations.
The highly anticipated Disney+ reboot, as Thomas so eloquently put it, “fell apart.” His excuse? “Bad timing with everything. It was right at the beginning of COVID.” Right, because a global pandemic is the *only* reason a revival of a beloved early-2000s show might struggle. It couldn’t possibly be creative differences or, you know, Disney being Disney. Still, Thomas is “thankful” for the show’s “crazy” embeddedness in millennial culture. Because nothing says enduring legacy like a generation clinging to their childhood comfort shows.
But the real tea isn’t about fictional character updates or failed revivals; it’s the behind-the-scenes drama that makes you wonder how anything gets made. Did you know the show was originally titled *What’s Lizzie Thinking?* and initially lacked the iconic animated Lizzie voiceover? Even better, Hilary Duff almost didn’t get the part. According to E! News, other actresses like Lindsay Lohan (yes, *that* Lindsay Lohan, future Aaron Carter love-triangle rival) and Sarah Paxton were in the running. Imagine the alternative timelines!
And here’s the kicker: Duff herself confessed she did “a terrible job” in her audition, admitting she “hadn’t read her lines.” Close to quitting acting, she apparently didn’t take it seriously. Yet, creator Terri Minsky, sensing some elusive “potential,” reached out to her, telling her she “needed to get more in the character.” But wait, there’s more! Disney’s former president of entertainment, Rich Ross, once told Newsweek that Duff was called in *four times* not because she was doing anything wrong, but because “she wore such great outfits, and we wanted to see what she’d come in with next.” So, the secret to landing a lead role in Hollywood isn’t talent or preparation, but a killer wardrobe. Take notes, aspiring actors.
Thomas, who now stars in the video game *MindsEye*, also assures us he keeps in touch with his onscreen parents, Hallie Todd and Robert Carradine, who “have always been like an aunt and uncle.” And, in a truly shocking development, he occasionally bumps into Hilary Duff at the farmers market. Because even Hollywood stars need organic kale. So, there you have it: a quarter-century later, and the biggest revelations are that auditions don’t matter if your wardrobe is on point, and canceled reboots still provide fodder for former child stars. Truly groundbreaking. Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming of actual celebrity drama.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and E! News, Newsweek
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
