Most of Duff's first few acting roles were small, starting off with an uncredited appearance in Hallmark Entertainment's western miniseries True Women (1997), an adaptation of the novel by Janice Woods Windle. She also served as an extra, again uncredited, in writer and director Willard Carroll's comedy drama Playing by Heart (1998), whose ensemble cast included Dennis Quaid, Sean Connery and Angelina Jolie, star of True Women from the previous year.
Lizzie McGuireLizzie
McGuire, which first aired on the Disney Channel in January 2001, was a ratings hit, drawing in 2.3 million viewers per episode, and became the career breakthrough Duff had been waiting for.
Duff has recorded Madonna's signature song "Material Girl" for her film Material Girls, and the music video is due in January. Duff has also mentioned in an interview that "Material Girl" will be included on her next album, which she is planning to start recording in early 2006.
