The new Lizzie McGuire has officially finished its first episode!
There are many more episodes to film and presumably a long wait ahead before we get to see the show, but for now, we do get to enjoy the little tidbits of information offered to us by Lizzie herself (and executive producer), Hilary Duff.
E! News had Duff in studio to promote the baby care line Happy Little Camper and the feminine care line Veeda just a few days after production on episode one wrapped, and she herself couldn’t believe Lizzie’s back in action.
“It’s been great, and kind of every day I’m driving to work and I’m like, I’m driving to Lizzie Mcguire. This is so weird. I never thought this would happen again,” she said.
Before production began, it was announced that Lizzie’s family would all be back, but so far there’s no word on her friends Miranda (Lalaine), Gordo (Adam Lamberg), or Kate (Ashlie Brillault).
“I haven’t worked with any of the old cast yet but that’s coming up. Next week is a big week for all…I don’t want to say all the originals,” she said. “We want to surprise people, so I don’t want to give everything away, but next week I’m filming with the family.”
We also talked to Duff last week, and she did seem to confirm that one very cute boy named Ethan Craft (Clayton Snyder) is not only back, but he’s very hot.
“He’s hot. He’s very hot,” she said. “I’m pretty sure there’s going to be, there’s going to be a thing.”
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In the new show, Lizzie lives in New York, has a great boyfriend, and works for an interior decorator. It looks like she has a great life, but she still has challenges to overcome. Duff says it was fairly easy to step back into the role.
“It’s a bit like muscle memory slipping back into the role. I really feel like she’s an extension of me, but different,” she says. “I don’t think I’m quite as like neurotic as she is, but she has this energy, this like positive…like she wants everything to work out, and then nothing quite always works out for her the way she envisions it, so I think people are going to be excited to see her at 30 and how she’s overcome some of that. There’s a confidence that I’m definitely trying to give her, just ’cause she’s older and gone through more life than when she was a teenager. But the relatability is what I’m really excited for, because I think that’s why everybody loves her.”
This new version of Lizzie will be part nostalgia, part brand new show.
“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 says. “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.”
Hit play to hear from Duff above, and see below for everything we currently know about this highly anticipated revival.
Lizzie McGuire is coming soon to Disney+, which launches on November 12.