Paydirt in Showbiz

Nine years ago, two sisters from Houston were newcomers in Hollywood who had gotten their first breaks in made-for-video movies. Haylie Duff, 13, had a part in Addams Family Reunion, while Hilary Duff, 10, played the female title role in Casper Meets Wendy.

Cut to 2007, when Casper Meets Wendy is returning to DVD in a “Family Fun Edition” that boasts making-of materials and other new extras. But the real kick is seeing Hilary as a budding child actress.

Both sisters have become much bigger stars since then, especially Hilary, with claims to fame from pop albums, concert tours, TV’s Lizzy McGuire, films such as Cheaper By the Dozen and even a clothing line. But Haylie has risen, too, appearing in such film hits as Napoleon Dynamite and Material Girls, as well as TV’s 7th Heaven.

In 1998, they were grateful just to land their made-for-video roles, having struggled to get noticed in Hollywood’s crowded talent pool.

The girls’ mother, Susan Duff, told the Chronicle at the time that Casper’s filmmakers auditioned more than 200 children to play Wendy in the film about a girl witch and a boy ghost.

“It was grueling,” she said. “We went to at least five call-backs, and the last one was three and a half hours and had only four children. That was a tough one.”

But Hilary, hooked on Beanie Babies at the time, was resilient. She wasn’t even thinking about a showbiz career, saying she just wanted to act “a little bit.”

“I really want to be a veterinarian,” Hilary told the Chronicle. “I’m into animals. I guess I’ll keep acting, but I’m not sure yet. I’m just 10 years old!”

Haylie was more intent on getting a particular part. She’d auditioned for Dawson’s Creek, a gig she wound up not getting.

“I’d get to kiss (Dawson’s star) James Van Der Beek,” she said. “I love him!”

Having moved to Los Angeles with their mother, the girls said they missed their father, Bob Duff, as well as their home, their dogs and Hilary’s rabbit, Buns, back in Houston.

Their mother said the girls gave up “a lot to go out there.” But so did their parents, who maintained the long-distance family for years but eventually divorced.

Now life goes on for Hilary, 19, and Haylie, 22, who have found more of a career than they may have envisioned as kids.

“A lot of people give it one year in L.A. and then go home,” Haylie told the Chronicle in 1998. “But we’re having fun.”

“We’ve gotten used to it,” Hilary said. “It seems like home to us now.”

[Source: HDuffWorld]
[Photo Credit: Oh-Hilary]