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Hilary Duff knew exactly what she wanted to do in life, even as a child.
On the Tuesday (March 17) episode of Mythical Kitchen's Last Meals, Duff opened up about how her mother, Susan Duff, helped her navigate her start in Hollywood as a child star while hitting back at the idea she was a "stage mom", per People.
"I was never pushed into acting or pushed into singing. My mom, you know, knew that my sister [Haylie Duff] and I loved performing. And so when you see that in your kid, or you see them like you're geared towards sports, I understand giving that, what your kids are interested in, giving that energy."
The A Cinderella Story actress explained that's exactly how she got started in her career, despite others thinking it was her mom's influence.
"Back when I was doing it, no one was acting, where I came from... So everyone thought it was like, 'She has a stage mom,' or like, 'What are they doing?' It was just different," she said. "So there's no way to really prepare yourself for the industry, but we were... I definitely knew what I wanted to do."
Duff added that her mom's choice to put energy into her love for performing has shaped how she parents her own children and fosters their interests. She shares son Luca Cruz, 13, with ex-husband Mike Comrie and daughters Banks Violet, 7, Mae James, 4, and Townes Meadow, 1, with husband Matthew Koma.
"God knows we do so much driving in our family for Luca to get to all the soccer that he needs to go to or for Banks to make all of her dance classes or whatever," she said. "You know, whatever the interest is, you want to help feed that."
Duff's comments come after she spoke in recent interviews about her "complicated" family dynamics as well as the "devastating" rift with her parents and sister.
"It doesn't matter what age you are, you want your parents to feel like they care about you. And a big portion of my existence hasn't felt like that," she said, adding, "I don't know if that's the truth, but that's how it feels."