Hilary Duff Shares Her Childhood Idols and Favorite Movie Crush

Before she was the face of a Disney Channel generation, Hilary Duff was just another kid glued to the TV, cheering for her own favorite stars.

During a recent visit to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the actress and singer looked back on the shows and celebrities she loved growing up. While many fans were obsessed with her role as Lizzie McGuire, Duff revealed that she had her own pop culture heroes long before becoming one herself.

Duff appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where she and Fallon reminisced about her days playing Lizzie McGuire. Fallon pointed out how Disney Channel viewers became completely hooked on the show and character before asking Duff who inspired that same kind of excitement for her when she was young.

"I mean, the Olsen twins," she replied, to applause from the crowd.

Duff quickly jumped into some nostalgic memories.

"Come on! 'Brother for sale?' Brother for sale, only 50 cents!" she continued. "And when they were spies, like twin sister spies."

Like many fans of the famous duo, Duff said she had several of their movies at home.

She explained that her VHS collection included a handful of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen classics. Years later, she even got the chance to meet them in person.

"I'm about to drop a lot of names here," she laughed, as she explained, "I met the Olsen twins at Aaron Carter's birthday party, pre us dating."

Meeting the twins felt like a full-circle moment for the young star.

"I was like, 'I have arrived. I've made it. Both of the Olsen twins are here.' It was crazy," she shared.

Duff also gave a nod to other shows she loved growing up, including Clarissa Explains It All, starring Melissa Joan Hart, and The Secret World of Alex Mack, starring Larisa Oleynik.

Duff also took part in a fun challenge on the episode of The Tonight Show. Host Jimmy Fallon asked her to pick a favorite among some of her most memorable co-stars: her A Cinderella Story partner Chad Michael Murray, her Gossip Girl co-star Penn Badgley, and her The Lizzie McGuire Movie co-star Yani Gellman.

Duff did not hesitate.

She chose Murray.

"I'm just going to stick to it, because I just watched it with my daughter, and it's embarrassing that she always wants to watch it," Duff told Fallon. "I'm going to say Chad Michael Murray."

Duff said one moment from the film still stands out all these years later.

"It was the walk up the bleachers," she explained, referencing a famous scene in the movie. "And the rain drop, I was like, 'Wow, this is romantic!'"

In A Cinderella Story, which premiered in 2004, Duff played "Diner Girl" Sam, a high school student who usually goes unnoticed. For one magical night, she gets the chance to feel like a princess and share a sweet moment with her Prince Charming, Austin Ames, played by Murray.