Given how many actors Sony considered before finally casting Andrew Garfield as the new Spider-Man, it comes as no surprise to hear that they're casting their net even wider to find the actors to round out the cast. But never, ever, in my wildest nightmares, did I expect the net to go so wide it included Hilary Duff. The erstwhile Lizzie Maguire pops up in a Toronto Globe and Mail profile about her hockey player husband Mike Comrie, and apparently the actress didn't try very hard to hide what must be a top-secret script.
Here's the passage in question:
Although tastefully furnished (Comrie says he's unsure if anything is from The Brick), it is relatively humble by Beverly Hills standards. The kitchen contains evidence of their professional lives – his daily diet is posted on the fridge (from a bacon cheddar burrito for breakfast to five pigs-in-a-blanket as a nighttime snack) and a script marked “Spiderman” sits on the table, with lines for a character simply called “girl” highlighted in yellow (rumours swirl about who Spidey's love interest will be in the series' next installment.)
Now, it might be possible they're considering Duff for what amounts to a small, cameo role, given that the character isn't even named. It seems far more likely that the script in question has left out character names to avoid speculative articles just like this one, and that Duff is being considered to play Mary Jane or a similar love interest. Yes, she's probably too old at this point to play a high schooler 23, but Andrew Garfield is 27, so really, all bets are off.
My biggest question is why Sony would be considering someone like Duff, who has name recognition but virtually no credibility as an actress. Can we assume Amanda Bynes has a script too? Miley Cyrus? I wouldn't panic just yet, since the fact that Duff has a script could mean nothing more than that her agent is really persuasive. But you've officially been put on notice that such a thing is possible.
