What Happened To Them?: The Cast of ‘Lizzie McGuire’

I’d like to thank whoever in the television world made the choice to star airing the edited-down version of The Lizzie McGuire Movie so much on cable recently. For some reason, that movie brought me and one of my ultimate favorite college roommates together – spoiler alert, but Lizzie kisses Gordo at the end, and despite us being in our late teens, it was a big moment for us. Someone bought the soundtrack shortly afterward, and listened to only three songs on repeat, until it was scratched. Yeah, that person was me. I’m not ashamed.

Lizzie McGuire aired on Disney, and mixed live action sequences with animation. It aired for three years, and yielded 65 episodes. The series, created by Terri Minsky, was originally titled was What’s Lizzie Thinking? before being changed to Lizzie McGuire. After the show ended, they were briefly considering a spin-off that’d follow the show’s three main lead characters to high school, but Hilary Duff (who played Lizzie) had a few contract disagreements that made it impossible.

So – where is the cast today?

Hilary Duff as Lizzie McGuire

Lizzie was a clumsy teen with a few insecurities – so she was pretty darn relatable. Hilary was originally cast – and later dropped – from a sitcom called Daddio, before gaining the lead role as Lizzie a long and crazy week later. She was a Disney darling even after the series ended, starring in the made-for-TV movie Cadet Kelly (which was the most watched Disney program ever), and released a few songs strictly for Disney. Back in those simpler times, she also had a pretty public feud with Lindsay Lohan over a boy (Aaron Carter – really, girls?)

Also known for being in Cheaper by the Dozen, Hilary starred in the sequel to the movie after finishing up with Lizzie. In 2009, she had a story arc in Gossip Girl, playing Olivia Burke. She’s also made a few appearances in TV shows like Community, Two And A Half Men, and Raising Hope.

In 2010, Hilary married boyfriend Mike Comrie, and they had a son named Luca. She actually worked on the Raising Hope set just ten months after giving birth.

Hilary has also been super active with charities – When she went on tour, a majority of the profits went to hunger charities – and she encouraged her fans to bring canned foods to her concerts for donation to USA Harvest. In 2009, she also participated in the Blessings in a Backpack program, and distributed 3,000 knapsacks of food to poor children in a school district in Colombia.

Adam Lamberg as David “Gordo” Gordon

Poor Adam – based on his short stature and baby face, he often had to play someone much younger than his actual age (to compare, he just turned 29 this year – so he was 17 when he was playing a middle schooler.) Adam hasn’t acted much since Lizzie wrapped up – his last project was called Beautiful Loser, which came out in 2008.

He never really embraced the role of being a Disney kid, saying the following: “I was kind of the black sheep with the Disney kids. I was uninterested in making friends with most of them. I didn’t really fall into ‘the Disney mold.’ I was more or less the kid hanging out with the crew members and got along with them far better.”

Adam enrolled at the UC Berkeley as a geography major, based on his love of travel. Can I admit now that I really like this guy? He just seems like a really nice person.

Lalaine as Miranda Sanchez

While she was originally set to appear in a spinoff series called What’s Stevie Thinking? about Miranda’s younger sister, the project was scrapped. Since, Lalaine (born Lalaine Vergara Paras, but often credited by her first name alone) appeared in the film Royal Kill along with Eric Roberts and Pat Morita in 2009, and has focused a lot on her music career. In 2005, she released a single called “I’m Not Your Girl” through Warner Brothers Records, and later played bass guitar in the band Vanity Theft for a year.

That being said, her resume isn’t squeaky clean. In 2007, she was arrested for possession of methamphetamine. What would Lizzie think?

Jake Thomas as Matt McGuire

Matt’s goal in life was to make Lizzie’s life as difficult as possible – being her younger brother, it was kind of in the cards. For a year, Jake played Jason Stickler in Cory in the House, which aired on the Disney Channel and was a spin-off of That’s So Raven. (Man – Disney loves their spin-off opportunities, don’t they.) In 2009, he did a few one-off appearances in sitcoms like Lie To Me, Eleventh Hour, and House, M.D.

And according to his twitter, he also likes biking and Star Trek and photography. And he also has a cat.

Ashlie Brillault as Kate Sanders

Because every hero needs a villain, am I right? Ashlie starred as Kate, the popular girl in school who used to be friends with Lizzie’s crew, but ditched them after her boobs came in. Girls can be really cruel in middle school.

Ashlie hasn’t done much since the show, but she does have her own website with a lot of typos. Also, a recent update about how she’ll be going to Florida… in 2006.

Clayton Snyder as Ethan Craft

Oh, Ethan. You’re so dreamy. You might not be too bright, but you’re nice to look at.
That being said, the show and movie are the only thing this guy’s been in, unless you count vocal commentary for the Lizzie McGuire DVD box sets. He attended Pepperdine, and played water polo, and is still quite easy on the eyes.

I will say this – his website is slightly less dated than Ashlie’s.

Looking forward to the launch, Clayton!

Hallie Todd as “Jo” McGuire

Jo is the quirky Mom of Lizzie and Matt, who has a good heart, but seems to sometimes meddle a bit too much. “When I read the script of Lizzie McGuire, I knew it was a really cute show and I wanted to be part of it, because I really liked the pilot script … When it was well received, I felt sort of validated, like: ‘yeah, I thought this was a cute show,’ but then when it went to that place in where it got so intensely popular, I’ve never been a part of that commercial success level. I never saw that happen, because I didn’t have any frame of reference for something like that happening, but I believed the show merited being very successful, because I always felt that that show set a mark for itself every week and hit the mark,” she said in an interview with Kees Boer.

Hallie is the co-founder, alongside her husband, of the film production company In House Media. In House Media contains a huge training facility, where a staff trains younger upcoming actors the skills of making it in the entertainment business. She also wrote two books, called Being Young Actors and Parenting The Young Actor.

Robert Carradine as Sam McGuire

You guys ever see Revenge of the Nerds? Yep! That’s Robert Carradine. And he’s aiming to continue being nerdy. This year, Robert was one of the hosts of TBS’s show King of the Nerds, which challenged a few delightfully geeky individuals to compete and gain the title of King (as well as $100,000). The show was so popular that it was picked up for a second season, which will begin airing in 2014.

That doesn’t mean that Robert has been too busy for films – last year, he was in Django Unchained, and in 2011 he was featured in FancyPants, which is a dramady about a conflict-fearing professional wrestler.

Winner: I’ve got to go with Lizzie. Hilary Duff has managed to have a nice little career for herself, and her volunteering work seems to be truly genuine. Also, she’s been happily married, and hasn’t made a point to announce it all over the tabloids. For a child actress, she seems to have a pretty good head on her shoulders. And she truly knows what dreams are made of.

Image Credits: www.disney.co.uk (featured) www.parentherald.com (Hilary), ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com  (Adam), lovelalaine.tumblr.com (Lalaine), contactmusic.com (Hallie), showrenity.com -(Robert)