Hilary Duff has been a working actress since she was 10 years old, so she's used to speaking with reporters. In her new movie "Beauty and the Briefcase," premiering tonight (April 18) on ABC Family, she turns the tables, playing Lane, a journalist who goes under cover to find love in the workplace. In real life, Duff doesn't envy journalists.

"I have a girlfriend who interviews people for her job and one time I went on her show and we did this segment where all the tables were turned and I was asking all the questions," she says in a press call. "It's quite difficult to think of things on your toes and ask questions that will get answers that people want to know about that person."

Duff's boss in the movie is played by Michael McMillan. "He had a great arc on 'True Blood' so I felt lucky to get to work with him," Duff says. "Just a really, really funny guy. Really kept me entertained."

Duff and McMillan are joined by co-stars Matt Dallas ("Kyle XY") and Chris Carmack ("The O.C."). "We were filming in New Orleans so we were there for a month and just got really close. We only had each other; we only knew each other so we were going for dinners every night. We became friends quickly," Duff says.

This week's movie with a literary connection is "Letters to God," a tale of a young boy who is battling brain cancer and forms a spiritual bond with those around him, including a troubled postman. Patrick Doughtie wrote the story, inspired by his son Tyler, who died in 2005. Doughtie has written a companion book, and he and wife Heather also created a kids' version. By all accounts, this seems like one of those tear-jerkers that critics will pan and fans will adore. A more religious version of a tale that Nicholas Sparks might weave, on the order of "The Last Song" or "Dear John." Here are excerpts from reviews:

Orlando Sentinel -- Good looking ... but slow and bland, this faith-based tear-jerker is a depressingly unemotional affair, with writing and some of the acting so flat that even its emotionally loaded situations can’t inspire waterworks.