Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan are two of the most famous stars of the 2000s. They started off the decade with Y2K style and Disney connections and continued to become more and more popular with their movies and music. To this day, each actress has a loyal fanbase. Hilary Duff's Lizzie McGuire has maintained a strong cultural relevance, while Lindsay Lohan's Mean Girls and The Parent Trap have continued to delight audiences.
It's no secret that these "it" girls had a feud over Aaron Carter, whom they both dated. The competition has died down, but it's still fun to see where Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan excelled as tween queens.
Lindsay: First To Star In Major Motion Pictures
Lindsay definitely had a head start on theatrical films that Hilary didn’t have. After the 1998 rendition of The Parent Trap, Lindsay Lohan took a few years to do TV movies, but went right back to the big screen with a remake of Freaky Friday, and then Mean Girls, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, and many others.
She and Hilary were fierce competitors at the box office in 2003 and 2004, but Lindsay will always have The Parent Trap.
Hilary: Disney Channel Connection
Lindsay Lohan starred in many Disney films, but she was only in one Disney Channel Original Movie (Get a Clue). Hilary has the clout of a DCOM (Cadet Kelly) and a hit series that grown adults still obsess over today. Even before the potential reboot took shape, fans had already expressed their nostalgia for Lizzie McGuire.
Lindsay Lohan got a few music videos on the Disney Channel here and there, but Hilary’s songs flooded the commercial breaks. It was easy to see her for a half-hour on Lizzie and then find her singing or chatting her way through the commercials.
Lindsay: Saturday Night Live Star
Lindsay Lohan famously hosted SNL in 2004 and roasted Hilary Duff. Rachel Dratch dressed in hot pink to imitate Hilary for the sketch with Lindsay. After this controversial event, Lindsay Lohan soon became a regular face on the sketch comedy show.
From her role in the Disney World skit to her Harry Potter parody, Lindsay Lohan added a lot to the show in her time there. The experience also gave her the more adult edge that Hilary Duff was striving for during those years.
Hilary: Cheaper By The Dozen
She doesn’t talk about it too much, but Hilary experienced the greatness of Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt — twice. She played Lorraine Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen in 2003 and reprised her role in the 2005 sequel, also starring Eugene Levy.
These movies cemented Hilary’s clean record in children’s media, and she even managed to work in A Cinderella Story and Raise Your Voice in 2004 between her screentime with the Baker family.
Lindsay: Wonderful World Of Disney Star
Lindsay Lohan has one important distinction in her career that Hilary missed out on. In 2000, Lindsay Lohan and Tyra Banks starred in The Wonderful World of Disney’s Life-Size. The Disney movie was made for ABC and became a childhood staple after its premiere.
Twenty years later, The Wonderful World of Disney is a sought-after relic that is largely missing from Disney+. Lindsay is lucky to have been a part of the beloved anthology series.
Hilary: Merchandise Queen
Lindsay Lohan worked hard on her movies and her albums, but she didn’t have nearly as much merchandise in the marketplace as Hilary.
The Stuff by Hilary Duff line infiltrated the homes of young girls with all kinds of products, from blankets and backpacks to body care items. Apart from that, Hilary’s face was still on many of Disney's products due to her prolonged Lizzie McGuire popularity.
Lindsay: Mean Girls
Mean Girls is Lindsay Lohan’s biggest movie to date, besides The Parent Trap, of course. Her work as Cady Heron is still talked about, and the movie even led to a Broadway musical (with Sabrina Carpenter most recently in the lead role).
The film spoke powerfully to tweens and teens for many years to come, and Lindsay Lohan even participated in a recent Zoom event in which she briefly reprised her role.
Hilary: Material Girls
By 2006, Lindsay Lohan had completed her most popular kids’ movies. Hilary Duff, on the other hand, was still going strong in that market. Hilary’s sister, Haylie, also grew up acting and singing. The Duff sisters started collaborating on occasion, and the fans loved it.
They were a hit together in Material Girls (2006), a movie about rich sisters who accidentally start a house fire and lose their family fortune. Though the film didn’t fare too well on IMDb, it held the gaze of Hilary fans stuck in a post-Lizzie world.
Lindsay: Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen
Lindsay Lohan was amazing in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. She had entered her teenage years with many successful movies under her belt, and another musically-infused Disney film was a good idea.
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen was unique in its presentation of Mary/Lola's identity. She was a girl trying to fit in and have fun with her life. Lindsay Lohan played the role well, but she also got the opportunity to show off her vocal abilities.
Hilary: More Music
Some 2000s kids had both Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff albums, but it was a lot easier to get a Hilary CD because there were more of them around. The starlet aggressively pumped out new albums in 2002, 2003, and 2004, not to mention all the movie soundtracks she was featured on.
Lindsay Lohan was heard on plenty of movie soundtracks, but the singer has only released two studio albums of her own. Hilary had a significantly higher volume of music out in the world. Lindsay's fans are glad to see that she has worked on new music recently.