Hollywood's Crop of Levelheaded Ladies: Why Hilary Duff, Lauren Conrad and Mandy Moore Will Always Be Popular

The actresses stay out of trouble and remain dedicated to their work

By Samantha Schnurr Nov 09, 2016 9:15 PMTags
Hilary Duff, Lauren Conrad, Mandy MooreGetty Images

As the classic expression goes, you get more bees with honey than you do with vinegar. The same can also be said in Hollywood. 

While stars gain immediate attention for scandal and rebellion, fame is far more consistent when it comes attached to dependable work and a maturely behaved star. Such a strategy has been proven with a handful of Hollywood starlets, among them Hilary Duff, Lauren Conrad and Mandy Moore

Having risen to fame as teenagers (Duff was just 14 when Lizzie McGuire was first born), the women have since forged ahead with safe and successful careers in music, film, television and fashion. 

Currently as full-fledged women, they've transitioned from singing about "Candy" to raising three children on This Is Us, from kissing Gordo to kissing her 4-year-old son Luca, from skipping out on Paris to debuting at New York Fashion Week—and they've done it all without a scandal. 

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Hilary Duff Through the Years
NBC

While some would mislabel the women as boring in their scandal-free progressions into adulthood, it's that same notable lack of drama that is worth hailing. 

"I try to just be nice," Duff recently told her Younger co-star Nico Tortorella on The Love Bomb podcast. "I just want to be a nice person and be happy." Shouldn't we all?

Even when faced with tricky PR situations like surprise divorce or changing career course, they've managed to do it all with grace and prudence. 

"I think everything happens for a reason," Moore said of her split from husband Ryan Adams at a This Is Us panel in August. "I think I spent a good portion of the last years of my life really pouring all of my energy into my life and relationship, and now that that's sort of not part of my life any more. It's just not a coincidence to me that things sort of opened back up, and I'm able to focus back on myself again." 

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It's National Candy Day, So Let's Revisit Mandy Moore's "Candy” Music Video
MTV

For Conrad, who became a star in the early tides of reality TV, she had every opportunity to become consumed by the catfights and conflict MTV bred.

Instead, she turned her back on those days and forged ahead as a bride with books, a blog and a new fashion brand. Even when instigated with questions about her Laguna Beach and Hills history, she does not indulge. Alas, her squeaky clean image lives on in her Good Housekeeping spreads and digital lifestyle advice.  

"I probably am pretty basic," she told Cosmopolitan in September 2015. "But I'm also a pretty happy person, so that's OK with me."