Hilary Duff is no stranger to the experience of being a former child star. Between 2001 and 2004, she starred as the titular Lizzie McGuire on Disney Channel's beloved series about an awkward teenage girl going through the motions: getting her first bra, fending off the school mean girl and navigating her first big crush.

It's no surprise, then, that Duff can empathize with the plight of the modern young celebrity, particularly those of former Disney Channel stardom like Selena Gomez.

Appearing on the Just Jenny podcast on SiriusXM, the Younger actress was asked about her thoughts on today's crop of post-child stars and how she herself coped with fame at such a young age.

"I think it's hard. I just feel for them," Duff said, adding, "God, how do I answer that? It was just a different time for me. When I was just coming onto the scene, it was when all the gossip stuff started. But now it's such an extreme level and there's just such a focus on personal life. It must really be a tough struggle. I feel it and I'm not dealing with it on the level they're dealing with it on."

The actress-singer specifically lauded Gomez, who recently announced a hiatus to treat her anxiety and depression.

"I think the saving grace is, she makes great music. Tons of people love her," Duff shared, adding that fans today are hopefully smarter to the money-making schemes behind the tabloid business. "At the end of the day, [the public] loves those people and they love their music."

Gomez wasn't the only person Duff praised, either.

When asked about her new music manager Scooter Braun, the man famously behind Justin Bieber's success, the Breathe In. Breathe Out. singer gushed, "Scooter is an all-around manager. He manages lots of people who don't do music too...I will get in the studio. I think Scooter’s a really smart man...I think that he believes in me. And I love what he does. He thinks outside the box and he likes a good challenge, and I’m a little bit of a challenge....It's for multiple things, not just for music. "

While Duff was open to answering questions about other pop stars and her manager, she played coy when the topic of her own music career came up.

"Music for me, it fits in somewhere," she said, vaguely. "It’s just a part of my life. But I don’t have like, 'I’ve got to get an album at this time.' I have a child and so I get to go to the studio when I have time."

Breathe in... and listen to the full interview, below:

20 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Hilary Duff:

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