- “Paolo cannot sing music. Now he must face reality.”
- ―Sergei
Paolo Valisari is the main antagonist of Disney's 2003 feature film The Lizzie McGuire Movie. He is a handsome and famous Italian pop star who secretly plots to use Lizzie McGuire to humiliate his former singing partner, Isabella Parigi.
Role in the film[]
Before the movie, Paolo and his then-singing partner and girlfriend, Isabella Parigi, were supposed to present an award at the International Music Video Awards. They had a falling-out, and Isabella left him. It was then that Paolo then decided to take matters into his own hands.
When Lizzie McGuire and her graduating class are taking a tour to Rome with their future principal, Ms. Ungermeyer, and Lizzie strays away from the group to the Trevi Fountain, she meets Paolo, who notices how much Lizzie resembles Isabella. Paolo and Lizzie agree to meet at the Trevi Fountain the next day.
The next day, Lizzie pretends to be sick and sneaks off to meet Paolo. She goes on a drive with him, agreeing to sing with him as Isabella, being told it is to keep her from being sued for lip-synching.
Throughout the movie, Lizzie and Paolo have been seeing each other, while Lizzie's friend David "Gordo" Gordon has been covering for them, while Lizzie continues to pretend to be sick. At one point, they are nearly caught by Lizzie's class while on a tour, but they elude them, with the help of Paolo's bodyguard, Sergei.
Soon, some of the media catches them together, and the tabloids mistake Lizzie for Isabella with dyed hair (Lizzie is a blonde, and Isabella is a brunette), which is apparently part of Paolo's plan. Lizzie discovers she must lip-synch the hit song "What Dreams Are Made Of".
Soon, Ms. Ungermeyer discovers a student has been skipping, and Gordo willingly takes the blame. Kicked off the trip, Gordo heads to the airport where he runs into the real Isabella, who saw a tabloid featuring Lizzie impersonating her, and is demanding an explanation. It is revealed that Paolo's plan was to make it seem that Isabella is lip-synching, and in doing so, avoid getting sued for breach of contract.
During the concert, Gordo and Isabella race to the IMVA, being held in the Colosseum, to stop Paolo from making a fool out of Lizzie on stage. The two reach Lizzie just in time to convince her of the truth. While Paolo and Lizzie sing their duet, Isabella and Gordo expose Paolo by pulling the plug on his prerecorded verses, and turning on his microphone, exposing him for the fake he really is. Angry at being exposed, Paolo leaves and is ambushed by the paparazzi. He briefly argues with Sergei, who was disgusted at Paolo for what he did to Lizzie, and leaves him to the paparazzi.
Trivia[]
- Paolo has similarities to Prince Hans from Frozen. They are both initially presented as love interests to the protagonist, and their antagonism is not revealed until the climax, and there is no hint at their antagonism before then. However, Hans is arguably worse, as he was willing to kill for his goals.
- Even before his plot is revealed, Paolo told Lizzie that she has to lip-synch "What Dreams Are Made Of" at the International Music Video Awards, which served as a hint to his true nature. Another obvious hint is that Lizzie and Isabella are pretty much identical, save for the hair color and accent (since they are both played by Hilary Duff).
