Hilary Duff's Phone interview with Victoria Times @ Canada.com

"As much as I complain about it, because you’re doing the same thing every day, I love it,"

the singer-actress says of the tour, which stops tomorrow in Vancouver at Pacific Coliseum and Saturday in Victoria at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

"There’s nothing you can compare to this. It’s excitement every single night, and a challenge to get better and do something new and inspire people."…

the peppy performer — who entered the North American spotlight in 2001 as the titular character in Disney’s Lizzie McGuire franchise — appears at ease with the pace.

"I have learned to deal with it since my TV show. That’s my life and this is how it’s going to be for me. When I was younger it was harder to deal with."

Duff technically isn’t "old," which she jokingly calls herself, but she is something of a veteran; she has been in the public eye since she was 10… In an effort to grow with her fans, when it came time to record Dignity she broke free from the disposable teen-pop of her past. It was a potentially dangerous creative leap, she says, but one that even her co-star agreed she should run with.

"I was telling John (Cusack) that I was nervous," she says. "And he said, ‘If this record sells 10,000 copies or three million copies is it going to make a difference? Would you change it?’ And I said no. I was just happy to have been able to have the experience, because it totally changed me."…

For once, Duff says, people outside of her core audience had good things to say.

"It was such a relief. For the first time, I was so happy and so relieved. You set yourself up for failure because I’m Top 40 and sing pop music and it’s not cool. But there’s a market for everything. Just because (a magazine) has a certain taste doesn’t mean they have everyone’s taste."…

"I’m not the celebrity who likes to be photographed. But I have gotten more at peace with it."…

"Paparazzi know where my home is and they wait outside on the weekends. But I definitely am not the celebrity that does tonnes of controversial things, so I don’t get it as bad as other people, I don’t think. When you’re walking into a club — yeah, they are going to be there. But if you go to a restaurant that’s low-key, they are probably not going to be there. Lots of celebrities complain about it, but they love it."

Duff says she is like any normal 19-year-old (though we don’t know many whose personal wealth was estimated at $15 million in 2005). If she doesn’t feel like going out, and getting dressed up in order to do so, she stays out of the public eye.

"I work so hard, so when I have time off, the last thing I want to do is feel like I have to look a certain way or watch what I do."

Courtesy: Victoria Times