Five reasons not to panic about Hilary Duff
So yes, unless you’re a 12-year-old girl, the news that Hilary Duff might take the role of Rebecca on Brothers & Sisters may be a little unsettling. But don’t panic. It probably won’t happen anyway. And if it does, here are five reasons it’ll be okay.
1. Really, what do we think a daughter raised alone by Holly would be like? A shallow, giggly lightweight isn’t so out of the realm of possibility, is it? Think how crazy it would drive Sarah to be related to her.
2. And if Duff’s out of her league with the rest of the actors here, that kind of works for the part too, doesn’t it? Rebecca would be pretty out of her league with those intense, driven, snappish, Nora-reared Walkers. Having kind of an annoying actress in the part will mean we don’t have to feel sorry for her when the sharp tongues start wagging.
3. If you put a dynamic young actress in that role, you’re going to want to see a lot of her. And whose screen time is that going to come out of, exactly? This cast is pretty packed with talent as it is. With Duff playing the part, Rebecca can spend lots of time in nowheresville with Julia and nobody will cry about it.
4. Stunt casting someone with a career on the side is the best way to make sure that Rebecca doesn’t become a regular character but is at most recurring, which is as it should be. Let Hilary go make her little movies and CDs and drop by now and then to get the show some press.
5. When Sally Field was Hilary Duff’s age, she was Gidget. No one was taking her very seriously at 19, except as the chubby-cheeked star of a fluffy sitcom. While it seems unlikely that Duff has significant hidden acting talent, who knew The Flying Nun would win a couple of Oscars? Stranger things have happened.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Hilary Duff has had the leading role in 5 feature films. She’s had smaller parts a few other movies. How is she “out of her league”? Last time I checked movies were a higher league than TV. I think she might be good enough to play this tiny role on a show that until today I had never even heard of.
I think the holier-than-thou fans of this TV show on ABC need to come to the realization that Hilary is being considered because she has the most experience and is one of the best actresses in her age group. She may never win an oscar, but she’s a professional. She knows what she’s doing.
April 21st, 2007 at 2:36 pm
*applauds*