- I love clothes. I can't control myself. I have a huge fetish for shoes and clothes and make-up. I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to wear things over and over again.
- I love my mom. I totally look up to her, and she just doesn't let anybody take advantage of me. People might call that a stage mom.
- [on her life and career] It's crazy and so surreal. I feel like such a normal person, yet everybody around the world knows my music, my movie, my name and my face. It's crazy sometimes, but I'm so flattered. It's a good feeling.
- My sister [Haylie Duff] and I are best friends and we get along so well. She is so talented and inspiring to me. She's my role model.
- In high school, kids deal with such harsh things that people don't realize can really affect their entire lives. They are so interested in getting the boyfriends and wearing low-cut shirts so the boys will like them. That shouldn't be their goal. They shouldn't do things for other people, they should do things if they have dreams of their own and really work hard for that.
- [on her work for the charity Kids With a Cause] We raise so much money for hospitals, but it's not just about that. Anybody can come up with a bunch of money to give to somebody. It's about going to a hospital and hanging out with the kids and dancing and singing with them or giving underprivileged kids a chance to go to a theme park for a day or rebuilding a playground. I love it so much. It's really gratifying.
- Mom always tells me to celebrate everyone's uniqueness. I like the way that sounds.
- I think ambition can be having something that you're good at and love to do.
- Every week I read about myself in a magazine, about something that I haven't done or some place that I've never been or don't even know. It's just gossip, rumors, egos, and politics.
- As a child I was shy. [Sister Haylie Duff] would be the one to go up and talk to people.
- We're still a very tight-knit family, even though we live apart a lot. And now [sister Haylie Duff] and I get to work together more and more. We're really close.
- I love doing emotional scenes. As I've had a perfect life I don't really have much to pull from. But it's really fun and not that challenging. It's almost pretty easy. The hardest thing is to try and make people laugh. That's a really hard thing.
- I don't think the Disney Channel gives us enough credit for the age range Lizzie McGuire (2001) actually has. College students come up to me, grandparents, famous people. It's really funny.
- [on her short relationship and break-up with Aaron Carter] He was my first real boyfriend and we really were in love, but we were, like, 14! Who cares?!
- [on helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina] It is heartbreaking to see the devastation on TV. People are missing family members and they have absolutely nothing left, not even food or water. I want to do everything I can to help those who have survived to help rebuild their lives.
- I think girls feel like they're not cool unless they have a boyfriend or they don't feel comfortable or happy with themselves--that's not true! You gotta be independent! You gotta show the power!
- [Dealing with mean girls in school] I switched schools in the middle of second grade, and it was tough because I had to go right into a new school where I didn't know anybody. I made friends eventually, but then when I started acting in California, a lot of those people were really mean to me. I'd go to school, and they'd be like "Well, haven't you booked anything yet?" It was embarrassing. They just didn't understand how hard it was and that things don't just happen overnight.
- It sounds cheesy but I think my life's kinda like a fairy tale. I worked really hard, but I'm very, very lucky, too. I'm just 16 and I've done so many amazing things. I travel the world, I have fans who support me and I get to do what I love--make movies, sing and really be myself. I have a beautiful family, a great support system and wonderful friends--and I go shopping every week! I'm so lucky, but it's not necessarily like A Cinderella Story (2004).
- [on her first pregnancy] Everybody else says it's a girl, but I think it's a boy. I'd be happy with a girl, but my sister's like, "You can't keep saying that, because then when it's a girl, everybody's gonna be like, you really wanted a boy!" I don't care what I get, but every time I think about it or dream about it, I see a boy. I haven't gotten sick at all and I don't have too many cravings. It's so different. It's literally like an alien has taken over your body. One day I'll have a good day, and one day I'll have a bad day, and it kinda goes like that.
- People talk worse about people than they talk good about people, because a lot of people like drama. People are going to say what they want to say and think what they want to think, and I can't change their minds.
- [on why she wanted to take the role in Bloodworth (2010)] Obviously, I hope people see it and think I did a good job in it, and see me in a different way than how they've watched me grow up, which is more lighthearted films. It is different in that I think every actor is looking for a challenge and to play something different, and to be a part of a project with other great actors. It was a great experience, and I think I've been trying to choose roles like that on purpose. I didn't find it easy to identify with her [the character of Raven Lee Halfacre], but I grew up in Texas and we had a house in the hill country that we'd go to often, and it was really deep into the country, and we had a few friends there growing up that were caretakers of our property, and I actually used them a lot for inspiration because they just had such a quiet life. The town was pretty incestuous - just back roads country stuff. I didn't relate to it, but I felt like I had some things to draw off of. The accent came pretty easy, and being where we had to be to film it really took you there fast because you were imagining that this was your life, how hard it would be.
- My mom is rad. I feel I'm so much like her. I don't know if it's wrong to drop an "F" bomb in the same sentence as your mother, but I'm so fucking lucky to have my mom. She's just taught me so much and given me so much, and she has such an open heart.
- [on taking the part of starlet Olivia Burke on Gossip Girl (2007)] I was a little hesitant. It was kind of close to home, then I realized, I would never say something [that Olivia says] like, Oh, this is just for the cameras. I think that's what makes me so different from some of the other people my age. It seemed for a time there were people who hated each other and I knew they hated each other but they were in pictures together all the time, smiling and throwing their arms around each other. I was like, You're in the same business I am how can you do that and feel okay I so wouldn't do that.
- I walked into a mall one day and was mobbed by people. And I just remember feeling really different than everyone else. I felt really loved. But it was weird at the same time. I don't necessarily like to walk into a place and be recognized.
- [on her dialect and dropping a live scorpion down her pants for War, Inc. (2008)] The first time I talked to John Cusack, he said, "You know, you have to have an accent." The character is an Eastern European pop star. I didn't even know where to begin. But the fun thing is, this place doesn't even exist. Turaqistan is not a real country. So I played around and mixed a lot of things together! I talked in that accent as much as I could, even to my family and friends! I grew up in Texas, and we had plenty of scorpions, but I never had to put one down my pants before. And my pants weren't that baggy, so I couldn't get any space. I did it a couple times with it going down my leg and it was terrifying. The little thing kept doing back bends because it obviously didn't want to go in my pants. Everyone on the set was cheering! It's off the wall and nuts and really smart and controversial and really proves the point. And I was so excited about it, like, "Gosh, can I do this? I don't know if I can do this!" Because you know what, when people won't take a chance on you, you have no confidence.
- [on her album "Dignity"] The record is really like a dance record. I did the record when I was having things with my family and was with someone and then not with someone so it is very personal. Dignity is something you just don't have. It's something that you have to work on. I feel like I have it a little--something that I've always had and strive to have.
- [on ex-boyfriend Joel Madden in the August 2007 edition of Seventeen magazine] All of the going out he did after we broke up sort of shocked me. That's just so out of character for him, and when we were together, he hated stuff like that, so I felt like I didn't really know him as well as I thought I did. I still want the cookie-cutter American dream--to get married, have kids, and have a house with a picket fence. I still believe that marriage can work.
- [on working with the charity Blessings in a Backpack, which provides food to kids to eat after school and on the weekends] I like to donate my time and feed people and make a difference and help people that aren't as fortunate as me. You come to the school and it makes it all real, you get to see the people that are taking the food home this weekend and are getting to feed their brothers and sisters at home.
- [on whether there is any rivalry with older sister Haylie Duff] There's not. People always want to expect that, but we're so focused on what we're doing individually, that that's the last thing that happens.
- [about her weight loss during her late teen years] I did get skinny, I've felt that pressure like everyone else in my position. When a newspaper comes out that says "Duff Puff - she must have gained 15 pounds" or something like that, how would any normal person react? I do worry about what I look like but I'm not going to let it control my life.
- [about her sex life] You know what? I was quoted [June 2006 interview in "Elle" magazine] saying I was a virgin, but I absolutely did not say that. That's nobody's business but my own.
- I know I can handle dramatic roles, but I don't think I should have to play a young mother on crack to prove it.
- [on taking on roles that are edgier or darker than what people might perceive to be in her comfort zone] Sometimes people don't think I can do the movies that maybe I could. I still fight for projects, and I don't get everything that I want. It's tough to convince people that I'm other things than just making people laugh. But I love romantic comedies, I would love to do more. They're not always easy. They are some of my favorite movies.
- [on being in gossip magazines] I'm not scandalous. I think it's actually embarrassing to be in those, yet some people will do anything to be in those magazines. I'm happy with who I am, and I'm happy with the way people portray me. If it's too normal, then that's their opinion. I go out to clubs sometimes, but I have a totally separate group of friends outside the business, friends who are not actors, and we go out, but we also know there's a front door and a back door, and there's one you don't get seen at. And I don't mean that in a mean way.
- [on working with John Cusack and Ben Kingsley in War, Inc. (2008)] John was fantastic and just really gave us room to play on set. He wasn't one of those "Hurry, hurry, we've got to get it done now" types. He's a big believer in going into it until it feels right. It was a great all-around experience and also acting-wise I'd never worked like that before. And also we worked with Ben Kingsley, which was fantastic. I only had one scene with him, but it's hard to take your eyes off him. He's so talented. The other thing that's made it easy for me is going on tour so many times and having to sing in front of people. You don't have a second to hold back. You have to step on the stage at that moment. It prepares you for throwing yourself into something fast and not thinking too much about it before you do it. And that goes for getting ready to start a really challenging scene or working with someone who might intimidate you.
- I've met Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears a few times, but it's not like they've said, "Here, sit down, listen to me kid."
- [on gaining weight during her pregnancy] My whole life I've worked out and exercised and been in the public eye and always kind of watched what I ate. And this was like a free pass and it was a blast. I am working out and I'm trying and I'm trying not to [obsess]. Everyone wants their body back, but all in time. It took nine months to get there and so hopefully, it won't take that long to get it off, but I'm doing it slowly.
- I went into labor at about 1:00 in the morning and I very calmly had my bags packed and woke my husband up after about three hours of walking up and down my hallway. Then I'm like, "OK, it's time to go, let's go now". I'm like. "Call my mom. call my sister." You know, get them all in here! Things start rolling. All of a sudden the doors bust open and my sister and my mom come flying in and they're like, "We got BBQ chips and root beer, guys." I'm pushing and they were just arriving for a show with their chips and their root beer!
- I'm not a perfect, prude girl. I like to do normal things that 20-year-olds do. But as good as it is for the rest of the world to watch people fall apart, it's not a respectable way to be talked about. I don't want that attention. If I can't get any from what I'm doing now, I'll figure out a different plan.
- [about the comments that Faye Dunaway made criticizing her acting skills] I think it was a little unnecessary but I might be mad if I looked like that now, too.
- I have a little bitch in me.
- I can't really act the way I want to act, or say what I want to say all the time. And a lot of times, I cover that up with a smile.
- [on her fans accepting her image as she grows older and takes on mature projects] I don't want to restrict myself from doing things that stimulate me just to make them happy. If they continue to like me, that's cool, but I don't want to cater to them. I'm not 13, 14, or 15 anymore.
- [on her debut album, "Metamorphosis"] The album is titled "Metamorphosis" because I thought it was a good way to express my experiences in this ever-changing world.
- Lots of girls like really smooth-talking guys, but I like the ones who are really nervous to come up to you and a little shy. They're probably the nicest ones.
- I knew I wanted to act, and I was really driven, so I kept going for it. We moved to L.A. full-time when I was 8 or 9.
- My relationship with my mom is so amazing. We never got to have that stage that people go through, like when you're 13 and you think you're too cool for your parents. When you're embarrassed by them and stuff. We never went through that because I was constantly working and she constantly had to be there. We just because best friends. I tell her everything. She's really my role model and my inspiration. She's such a good person and such a strong person. A lot of people give her flack for being strong and being smart, but I think I envy that in her.
- I think I'm happy with who I am. I don't know if I learned that from other girls or just people in general. It's hard to stay true to yourself and what you want in life when there are so many distractions and so much craziness going on around you. Living in L.A. is pretty damn hard. But I feel like I can be alone with myself at the end of the day and that makes me really satisfied.
- [on her role in Raise Your Voice (2004)] People have been asking me today what the most challenging part of the movie was, and it wasn't the crying scenes. I think that's much easier than trying to make people laugh. Crying on command is not that difficult. But the parts that were harder for me were after the tragedy happens to Terri in her life, it's kind of like just like a closed-off, numb feeling. She doesn't feel any emotion, no happiness, no sadness. She's kind of nothing. That was the hardest thing for me. And then going to the school and feeling like the outsider, I kind of learned how to do that a lot with Lizzie McGuire (2001) because she was the dork that didn't really fit in. And everybody kind of made Terri feel very unwelcome at the school at first.
- [announcing her pregnancy on her official website on August 14, 2011] This weekend, Mike [husband Mike Comrie] and I are celebrating our one-year anniversary. I can't believe it has already been a year, time really flies when you're having fun. We also want to share the exciting news that baby makes three. We are extremely happy and ready to start this new chapter of our lives. Thanks to everyone for the continued love and support throughout the years!
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