Pop Quiz

"Hilary Duff, best known for her roles in "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" and "Cheaper by the Dozen," grows up in more ways than one on her new album, "Dignity." Not only is she edging out frothy bubblegum pop in favor of sleek electro grooves and songs inspired by the exotic decade she just missed (you know, the '80s), but the 19-year-old singer-actress is also nursing a broken heart with appropriately darkened hair and fingernails to match. Recorded while coming out of a long-term relationship with Good Charlotte front man Joel Madden (now hobnobbing with Nicole Richie), Duff could provide us with the moment we've all been waiting for on this disc -- the moment the teenage star comes of age.

Q: You started out making this album while you were still going out with Joel Madden. Did you have to hurry up and write a bunch of mean songs after you broke up?

A: That was a big question when I finished the record and I had these songs. I had broken up with Joel, and I thought to myself, "I have all these songs about being in love and it being great, and they don't make sense anymore." But everyone deals with that. There are people in relationships. There are people going through a breakup. There are people going through all of those things. So I feel like I got to cover a lot of ground, and everybody could relate.

Q: Do you think the black hair brought out the sad gothic side of you?

A: My mom thinks it made me more independent and daring. She says she wants me to go back to a blonde so she can tell me what to do. Actually, I do agree with that, but sometimes it takes someone else to point it out. On a more superficial note, I feel it was really hard for me to find outfits at first, and I felt like I had to change my makeup and everything. It's a big change, but I like it a lot. I don't know if it has anything to do with the record.

Q: Were your parents secretly happy that you broke up with Joel, you know, because his arms are covered in tattoos, he's so much older and he wears baseball caps the wrong way?

A: No, my mom loves him. She misses cooking for him and his brother Benji. Even from the beginning, I did warn her before they met that he has a lot of tattoos and he's much older than me, but my mom knows that I'm smart. She's always trusted me, and we've always had a very honest relationship. She never wanted us to break up. She loves him. My dad might be a different story.

Q: I'm with Dad. What did you see in Madden?

A: He's a really good person and he treated me really well, but it was just kind of time. I had been in a relationship for 2 1/2 years, since I was 16, and it wasn't fair to him because he was going to be ready for marriage in a few years, and I was going to be ready for something else. It was a hard decision to make, but I'm a really compassionate person and I care so much about other people that sometimes I put that before myself. I just thought it wasn't fair to him anymore.

Q: Are you sure you're really 19?
A: It's funny, because everyone's watched me grow up and make mistakes and do the things that people are normally embarrassed by. I try not to be embarrassed. I still screw up and I do dumb things, but I do learn from them. I feel lucky to have this job and this crazy career, but I feel so normal inside.

Credit: sfgate.com