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t was a scene last summer that could have happenedanywhere in the West, a young girl greeting a horse asthe midday sun painted the moment with summer’swarmth. They stood together in a pasture on

California’s Central Coast, where mountains meet the sea. Here inthis coastal canyon the land is a blur of buckskin and blue — aplace where the green pastures of spring have turned golden, ris-ing up to meet the sky. On that summer day, this one young girland a special horse shared a time with the only audience, the skyand the land. It was a unique moment of quiet for the teenager andshe relished the private time.

Hilary Duff doesn’t get many solitary moments — especiallywith a horse — at this point in her life, let alone with Spirit, thelittle mustang who was inspiration for DreamWork’s animatedblockbuster Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron.

“I had to catch my breath when I saw him,” she said. “He’sabsolutely stunning.” Spirit is no ordinary horse and the place helives, Return To Freedom, Neda DeMayo’s Central California wildhorse sanctuary, is no ordinary ranch. Hilary had traveled from herLos Angeles home to the Buellton, California, facility, where alongwith Spirit, 130 other horses live out there lives in peace. Returnto Freedom is a refuge dedicated to preserving the last of America’s

Hilary DuffC O V E R S T O R Y

A TEXAS METEMORPHISIS

by William C. Reynolds

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OPPOSITE: Pink sleeveless T-shirt from Roper; necklace withheart pendant from Happy Trails de Santa Fe; sterling silver heartbracelet from Island Cowgirl.

photography by Charles Bush

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of her debut album on HollywoodRecords, Metamorphosis. A now multi-million plus, triple-platinum sellingalbum; the CD initially shipped to storeswell in excess of gold record status withover 800,000 copies sold with its initialrelease last August. With impressive con-tinuing sales today, Hilary’s singing careeris exploding on Top 40 radio, MTV, andthe top 200 retail charts. Just like her song“Come Clean” says on her album, Hilaryis spreading her wings and no more “try-ing to fit a square into a circle.”The albumhas caused quite a stir as Hilary is dealingwith growing up and the pull of her mil-lions of fans to stay just Lizzie McGuire.

“Change is a very important and natu-ral thing,” says Hilary. “We called thealbum ‘Metamorphosis’ because it’s aboutchanges that everybody experiences, espe-cially kids. It’s not just about me, but it isvery personal. The change might seem a

wild horses, and Hilary had been namedits official youth ambassador. She wasobviously moved by the visit.

“It’s important to raise the awarenessof other kids about these horses,” saysHilary. “This is really an honor; horseshave always been special to me and I lookup to people who are involved withorganizations that help people and ani-mals. It’s very special to give back to yourcommunity — that’s the best part ofbeing in the position I’m in right now.”

That position is one of a highly influ-ential superstar. In fact, in her young 16years, Hilary Duff has performed andworked more than many in Hollywoodwill in their entire careers. If you’re askingyourself, “Who is Hilary Duff ?” Getready, you’re about to see a lot of thishousehold name to most kids under 18.Her film and television careers are boom-ing along with a 2004 booked-full sum-mer of a concert tour in support of herhugely successful debut CD. Yes, she’s arecording artist as well. As for movies,she’s just wrapped Heart of Summer, anurban, romantic drama, in which she starswith Rita Wilson and John Corbett (MyBig Fat Greek Wedding) along withRebecca De Mornay and David Keith.She also just completed the romanticcomedy feature A Cinderella Story withyoung hunk Chad Michael Murray. It’s acontemporary Cinderella story set forU.S. release this July. Next, she’s slated tostar in The Perfect Man, a romantic com-edy based on the true-life stories ofHeather Robinson, a teenage daughtersearching for the perfect man for her sin-gle mom. This followed with anothercomedy, Outward Blonde. A film about asnotty, teenage New Yorker, who, afterfailing gym class, is sent to an OutwardBound program - sort of an Elle-Woods-meets-the-backwoods.

In 1998, she starred in a direct-to-video feature as the young witch inCasper Meets Wendy opposite a dreamensemble cast for anyone in Hollywood(let alone a young 10 year old girl)including Shelley Duvall, CathyMoriarty, Teri Garr, George Hamilton,Pauly Shore, Allen Thicke, and Ben Stein.

Last year she starred in three featuresincluding the rollicking Steve Martinfamily comedy Cheaper by the Dozenalong with Bonnie Hunt and DemiMoore’s squeeze, Ashton Kutcher. Alsocame the wacky spy comedy Agent CodyBanks with Frankie Muniz and her ownstarring vehicle, The Lizzie McGuireMovie, these all released in 2003. Thelater Lizzie film is the big screen follow-up to her mega successful DisneyChannel television series, “LizzieMcGuire.” A series that continues to runafter three years of consistently winningits ratings time slot.

The Disney Channel cable show alsomarked Hilary’s singing debut lending herfresh vocals to “I Can’t Wait,” a song fromthe certified platinum, million-sellingLizzie McGuire Soundtrack. Singing hasseemed to be another of Hilary’s talents,along with acting, looking at the success

OPPOSITE: Pink sleeveless T-shirt from Roper; striped cotton skirt from Billabong;Pink Applique boots from Liberty Boot Co.; necklace with heart pendant from HappyTrails de Santa Fe; sterling silver heart bracelet from Island Cowgirl.ABOVE: Long-sleeve lavender snap-front shirt and red Vintage Collection boots withwhite stitching, both from Roper; denim skirt and yellow cotton T-shirt, both fromWrangler; sterling silver beaded necklace with cross from Happy Trails de Santa Fe.

kids today and their doubts of relation-ships lasting. A burden placed on ones soyoung but a reality just the same that in theend everyone is accountable to themselves:“Gotta find your inner strength/If youcan’t then just throw life away/Gotta learnto rely on you.”

Yet with all this huge, seeminglyovernight success and with all the pres-sure forced upon her, Hilary is somehowsucceeding at staying a teenager whilealso being TV and pop music’s favoritegirl-next-door — a substantial achieve-ment in keeping values first. To maintainthat achievement it takes a strong founda-tion to hold up to the pressures of theentertainment industry. Hilary’s founda-tion is a strong and grounded family,something parents Bob and Susan Duffhave nurtured and closely protected, rightfrom the beginning.

Hilary Erhard Duff was born inHouston Texas, on September 28, 1987.A sixth generation Texan, she and oldersister Haylie come from time-testedstock, their great-great-great-grandpar-ents having emigrated from Munich,Germany, and settled near Austin back in1840, four years after Texas won inde-pendence from Mexico.

“It does create a bit of permanence,”she says. Permanence that makes for deepties to her home state of Texas and the onething that really matters to Hilary and herfamily - each other. With all that’s going onwith her life, Hilary Duff is growing uppretty Western in all the good sense of theword with roots that are faith based andstrong. No matter how far her fame mighttake her, she says she “feels grounded” andgives thanks to the very real connections ofher supportive family and friends. “Texas,to me, is all about that — family andfriends, and courtesy,” she smiles.

“‘Please’ and ‘thank you’ were probablysome of the first words my kids learned,”says mom Susan Duff. “Our parentstaught us it’s the little things you can dothat can make such a big improvement inour lives as well as the lives of others,” saysHilary, recalling Christmas parties whereher parents asked guests to bring items forcharitable donation rather than gifts, and

talent included singer-songwriter-produc-er Meredith Brooks, producing master-mind Chico Bennett (Madonna, Usher,Destiny’s Child), and some of the bestpop-rock musicians anywhere.

Of the experience, Hilary was ecstatic,“Can I tell you how awesome everyonewas to work with? Here were the very bestwriters, musicians, and producers ever andthey were so open to my opinions. I got totalk with some of the writers and say,‘You know, I feel like this’ and they got it.It is so cool. I loved the whole process.”

The album had a real family aspect aswell. Two songs were written by Hilary’snumber one idol, her talented big sister,Haylie. “She knows me better than any-one else,” Hilary says proudly. “She wrote‘Sweet Sixteen,’ a fun song that reallyrelates to my life now. She also wrote‘Inner Strength,’ a really uplifting andbeautiful message.

It’s a song that says a great deal about

little sudden as most people are used toseeing me as a character on TV through“Lizzie McGuire” and movie parts Iplayed. This music is a good way to geteveryone to know the real me. Everyoneevolves and changes.”

Change is one thing, doing it smart isanother and Metamorphosis shows thatHilary was very smart in wanting some-thing different on a debut album fromwhat would have been expected fromother pop princess efforts — a potential-ly dicey move in a very congested andcompetitive field. But in Hilary’s case, shedid her homework. The 13 pop-rocksongs were written, produced, andarranged by the very best in the businessincluding nine tracks by Charlie Midnight(Joe Cocker, James Brown and JoniMitchell). The Matrix (Avril Lavigne,Christine Aguilera) produced three tracksincluding “So Yesterday” and “TheMath.” Others contributing their sizable

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ABOVE: Short-sleeve cactus shirt from Roper; jeans from Rock & Republic.OPPOSITE: Suede Wild Child shirt in baked apple red from Patricia Wolf; El Muertobuckle set with black calf strap from Douglas Magnus; silver horseshoe necklace fromIsland Cowgirl; jeans from Rock & Republic.

shadow hard work and honest success.Call it achievement ego or sheltering fromrealty, whatever one calls it, too manyyoung performers have their lives ruinedby seemingly adoring fans wanting moreand more access — and dirt. It’s the pit-falls of success that Hilary and her familyare working hard at avoiding. “The sec-ond I give my mom attitude, I’m in trou-ble. If my room’s not clean or I haven’tdone something that she’s asked me to do,I’m grounded,” she says straight-faced.

“In life, you have to turn out to be agood citizen,” says Susan Duff, summingup her and Bob’s approach to raisingHaylie and Hilary. “The success doesn’tmatter. Who knows how long it’s going tolast? The real thing is how you’re going toget through life and contribute.”

plays an active part in the group, doingeverything from participating in fundrais-ing events to visiting children’s hospitals.She also earmarks proceeds from each ofher concert tickets specifically for thecharity. All of the proceeds of sales fromher Little Dog Duff Stuff line will bedonated to help horse and dog-rescue cen-ters and spay and neuter programs.

With all her current success and phil-anthropic generosity, Hilary is stillfocused on being a 16-year-old girl, hold-ing on to having a childhood and adoles-cence and all that those times of growingup bring. America loves a successful start-up, watching something — someone —grow and mature. But with that publicpresence can come a kind of darkness, aside of celebrity that can engulf and over-

hood. They kept horses on their familyranch in Bastrop, outside of Austin,including twin Shetlands — Cinnamonand Sugar, bought at their church auction,along with Lady, a Welsh pony that Hilaryand Haylie loved riding. For several yearsthey would participate in the Family Fairat the San Antonio Livestock Show andRodeo and occasionally would go todances at Gruene Hall, the oldest dance-hall in Texas, near New Braunfels. It was awonderful time, Susan remembers.“Everybody was dancing — kids standingon their parents’ feet learning to two-step.The bands were great, everybody danced,we saw everyone from Jerry Jeff Walker toThe Mavericks.”

It’s those memories, that steady foun-dation, that give Hilary her clarity andstrength — along with the family shelooks to for management and guidance.

“I’m so busy, I don’t really have time tosit down and actually take a breath,” sheadmits with a laugh. “But when I do thinkabout it, when I’m lying in bed at night, itdoes seem a little surreal at times.”

Something she never dreamed of wasthe incredible demand among her teen andpreteen fans for all-things-Hilary. With allher other projects, Hilary has, by populardemand, developed a merchandising arm.She teamed with trendy Target to launchher Duff Stuff line of girls’ clothing andgear, with Hilary playing an integral partin the design process. She also has devel-oped a line of pet accessories called LittleDog Duff Stuff. Fans can also buy theirchoice of three different Hilary Duff,fully accessorized fashion dolls in fullHilary TV Star, Hilary Rock Star, andHilary Movie Star modes. “It’s a littleunnerving,” she says, “seeing yourself as adoll, but lots of fun.”

Another result of Hilary’s success hasbeen the opportunity to help others,something her parents instilled in her earlyon. “I’ve been super lucky,” says Hilary,“giving is something that is easy to do.” In1999, she became one of the foundingmembers of Kids with a Cause, a charityformed by young performers to help cre-ate programs that improve the quality oflife for disadvantaged children. Hilary

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bike rides with her dad where they wouldoften stop to pick up trash left in theirneighborhood.

Both Duff girls received more than justa good education in civic responsibility.They were fortunate to be enrolled at St.Mary’s Hall, a San Antonio school foundedin 1879 and renowned for its academicexcellence. It also happened to have a top-notch performing-arts program.

“Haylie got involved in ballet andschool plays,” Hilary says. “At home shewould teach me all these dances and stuff,and then I wanted to start doing them,too. We had been traveling in a local bal-let company when Haylie decided shewanted to be a singer. I was 6 so I wantedto be a singer also. She wanted to be anactress, so I wanted to be an actress. She’sthree years older than me, so everythingshe does I want to do, too.”

Hilary’s first real part was a TV mini-series shot at a neighboring place in Texas— Hallmark Entertainment’s TrueWomen, which aired on CBS in 1997. Itstarred Angelina Jolie, Dana Delany,Powers Booth, and Rachel Leigh Cook andwas filmed partly in Hills Prairie, Texas, atwhat Hilary calls “the Hill place.” It’s atwo-story wooden home built in 1852 byAbraham Hill, a veteran of the famousBattle of San Jacinto. It was restored withwork started in the early 1970s by Hilary’sgrandparents, Ken and Mary Duff. Thehome ultimately caught the attention ofmovie location scouts in search of authen-tic settings. True Women was one of manyproductions shot there and ironically gaveHaylie and Hilary the chance to work asfeatured day players. “That experience hadan awful lot to do with their getting to seethe business firsthand,” says Susan Duff,who now directs Hilary and sister Haylie’scareers. One of Hilary’s first co-starringroles was in 1999 as young Ellie in NBC’sSoul Collector alongside veteran actorsOssie Davis, Melissa Gilbert, and BuckTaylor. It was in Soul Collector that youngHilary won a Best Performance in a TVMovie or Pilot (Supporting YoungActress) Young Artist Award.

Bob and Susan Duff were determinedto give their girls a normal, Texas child-

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ABOVE: Hilary in performance at MuchMusic Studios in Toronto, where several hun-dred fans heard her sing songs from her first solo album, Metamorphosis.OPPOSITE: Ranch Romance screen T-shirt from Roper; embroidered vintage jeansfrom Rhinestone Cowgirls; black and tan boots from Ariat; turquoise earrings fromHappy Trails de Santa Fe.

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At the Cowboys & Indians photo shoot, Hilary and her parents, Bob and Susan,enjoyed the scenery and hospitality of Avalon Ranch, Jim and Teresa Wislon’s spreadin the Santa Monica Mountains outside of Malibu.

Hilary (right) and big sister singer-songwriter Haylie at the 46th annual Grammy Awardsin Los Angelos. “We’re best friends and we always have been.

Avalon Ranch

That beautiful California terrain and coolranch-house backdrop for the C&I Hilary

Duff photo shoot is Avalon Ranch, the SantaMonica Mountains home of producer-directorJim Wilson and his family. Besides being KevinCostner’s partner in Tig Productions — theirfirst project was Dances with Wolves — Wilson isdad to two daughters who are big Hilary fans:Lauren, 16, and Maeve, 11. “The girls followher career — the music and Lizzie McGuire,”Wilson says. “They really wanted to meet herwhen she came for the shoot. It was a blast foreverybody.”

At an elevation of 1,200 feet, Avalon todayis a Pacific paradise, but in 1996 when theWilsons bought the place, “it was a valley full ofrefuse from development of the city.” Abouteight miles from Malibu and just a half-hourdrive from the L.A. studios where Wilson works,the 115 acres were once part of the Warner (asin Warner Bros.) ranch. For two years, theyplanned, cleaned up, pruned and planted —Wilson’s wife, Theresa, is a landscape architect— restoring the land to its native state, completewith drought-tolerant plants, a hundred or socitrus trees, and orchards full of pear, peach, andplum trees. Theresa designed two houses — amain house and a one-bedroom guest housewith loft (called the Crow’s Nest for its perch ofa location)— with architect Larry Clark.

It’s the Wilsons’ own sequestered little valley,where they live in California contentment withhorses, goats, chickens, rabbits, ducks, five dogs,five cats, fish, and a cow named Daisy — “about40 animals all told.” Then there’s Casper, thefriendly horse. Posing for the cover with Hilarywas old hat for the movie veteran. The last screentime for the 23-year-old flea-bitten-gray regis-tered quarter horse was in The Postman with KevinCostner (Costner’s daughter Annie rode him).“We ride him all the time out here,” says Wilson.“He’s in great shape for 23.”

For the guy who did The Bodyguard, Wyatt Earp,and Message in a Bottle (to name a few), Avalon’s alot like the original place of legend, an islandparadise in the west where King Arthur andother heroes were taken after death. With onefoot in the studio world and one in independentfilm, Wilson can relate to the idea of doing bat-tle and coming back to the ranch to recuperate.“I have all these battles in this business,” he says.“At the end of a long day or week or month orwhatever you’ve been through, you come to thisplace, where it’s so quiet. At night, it’s com-pletely dark. It’s a great place, and it’s definitelyhome. I can’t imagine leaving.”