Nearly two decades after first meeting her (and her animated innermost thoughts), Lizzie McGuire is about to return to TV screens.
It's hard to believe, but it's been 19 years since Hilary Duff broke through with the January 12, 2001 debut of Lizzie McGuire, the beloved Disney Channel coming-of-age comedy that followed the titular teenager as she juggled friends, family, crushes and all manner of middle school mortification. Over the course of 65 episodes and one feature film—2003's The Lizzie McGuire Movie, naturally—Duff became a household name and a cultural touchstone for many a Millennial, launching an enduring career while also creating the blueprint for the Disney girls who would follow in her footsteps. (There's a reason most of the cable network's teen stars eventually dabble in music too. And it's because of Duff's success with hits like "Come Clean" and "So Yesterday.")
After years spent initially "not wanting anything to do with" the character while exploring new opportunities, the actress is returning to the role that made her a star for a sequel series set to premiere on Disney+ later this year, albeit without original creator Terri Minsky, whom Disney parted ways with earlier this week. Now an apprentice interior decorator living in New York City, Lizzie will be turning 30 when the revival, set to feature appearance from a majority of the original cast, kicks off.
"We're trying to serve up the nostalgia in a way that makes everybody happy, but also this is a show that will hopefully stand on its own, and the storyline is not just like all about the past," Duff told E! News about the revival back in November just as production had commenced. "It's very much moving forward and her now, and what that looks like, and the challenges that she will face. Good times and bad times, it's not a drama obviously. But it's like waking up on her 30th birthday, and this is her life now."
In celebration of 19 years of Lizzie—and while we impatiently await her return—let's take a look back at all roles that Duff has inhabited in the in-between!
Lizzie McGuire returns later this year on Disney+.