It can’t be easy having a famous sister when you’re trying to make it on your own in Hollywood.
But Haylie Duff, the older sister of Hilary Duff, has proven time and time again she also has what it takes to be a star.
The actress and singer began her acting career in the late ’90s and early noughties, following in her younger sibling‘s footsteps by earning credits on Disney and Nickelodeon shows.
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It can’t be easy having a famous sister when you’re trying to make it on your own. Just ask Haylie Duff. (Getty)
Her big break, however, came in 2004 when she starred as Summer in the cult comedy film Napoleon Dynamite.
Though she appeared to be on the same trajectory as her sister – Haylie’s voice was even used in The Lizzie Maguire Movie – she didn’t quite reach the same level of stardom.
In the 2000s, it seemed the music and film industry was determined to make Haylie and Hilary Duff the next Olsen twins.
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Haylie never quite reached the same level of stardom as her younger sister. (Paramount Pictures)
The pair starred in their own movie, Material Girls, in 2006 and released a cover of the hit song Our Lips Are Sealed together.
While Hilary went on to make teen rom-coms and kickstarted her successful singing career, Haylie went down a different path.
After starring in the series 7th Heaven between 2005 and 2007, Haylie struggled to land anymore blockbuster roles.
She later signed on for several Hallmark movies, but her career soon took a turn.
Over the past few years, the Duff sisters have been quiet about how their sibling relationship has been going.
While Hilary has remained in Los Angeles filming shows including Younger and How I Met Your Father, Haylie decided to ditch Hollywood and head to Texas with her family.
One of the last times Hilary publicly spoke about her big sister was in a 2018 interview with Pop Sugar.
“We just have such a history,” she explained.
“We’ve grown up our whole entire lives together. So we know pretty much everything about the other person. There’s such a comfort there and I feel really safe.
“She has always been my number one fan. My number one protector. I feel really lucky to have that safety in my life. “
Haylie seemed to have reignited the presumed feud by “liking” a post about Ashley Tisdale’s “toxic mum group” essay for The Cut.
Hilary was rumoured to have been part of the friendship group Tisdale claimed ‘froze’ her out.
The sisters have not been open about their relationship in the past few years. (Getty)
The younger sister has seemingly retaliated with the release of her new album, Luck… or Something.
One of the tracks on the album, titled We Don’t Talk, was debuted at a recent show in London, and paints a heart-wrenching picture of the pair’s alleged estrangement.
Hilary, 38, admitted in the song that she was “unsure” of what she’d done to cause the rift between her and her older sister, 40.
“Not even sure what it was about,” she sang, “if I did something different would you feel something different? Would you at least let me hear you out?”
It became clear Haylie was the subject of Hilary’s latest offering when the lyrics alluded to their shared childhood.
“‘Cause we come from the same home, from the same love, a different combination but the same love.”
Hilary has now released new music about her older sister. (Getty)
The ex-Disney starlet then expressed her desire to ”get back to how [she and Haylie] were as kids.”
“People ask me how you’re doing, I wanna say amazing but the truth is I don’t know, what I always end up saying is how we don’t talk.”
Hilary later confirmed that the lyrics were in fact about family, and not just Haylie. She is also estranged from their father, Robert (Bob) Duff.
“That’s my family. Those are the people that affect you the most, take up the most space naturally as a human who’s born into something,” she told Glamour.
“Just because you’re born into a family doesn’t mean that it always stays together.
“You can only control your side and your street … I’ve had a very complicated life, and my parents had a very complicated thing.
“I know it’s not rare, and I think it goes back to the theme of, Why share now? I guess I just felt ready.”
The sisters have not been photographed together in public in over five years, with their last known sighting together being a Los Angeles shopping spree in 2019.
Now aged 40, Haylie’s last role was in the 2025’s Pretty Hurts.
In an interview with Fox News, the actress spoke about how her move away from Hollywood in 2020 had changed her career.
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“The truth is that I feel like I have found my footing in my career in a very different way and in almost like a fresher way,” she said.
“I don’t know if that’s because I was given a little space to look at things a little differently or, you know, approach things differently, maybe, I don’t know. But this last year with stepping into directing has certainly been so rewarding for me.”
Haylie is engaged to her partner of 14 years Matt Rosenberg, and the couple share two daughters: Ryan and Lulu.