Frankie Muniz has revealed the reason he hasn’t spoken to Hilary Duff in 22 years, having disconnected after their last day filming together.
He decided he’ll speak about it in a recent interview
In a recent appearance on The Joe Vulpis Podcast, Muniz, 39, shared what drove him to cut ties with Hilary Duff, 38, and why they haven’t spoken in 22 years.
“We became really, really good friends,” he said of the start of his friendship with Duff. “We had a really great relationship for a long time.”
They met as teenagers
Muniz and Duff met as teenagers when their acting careers took off around the same time, with Duff becoming known for her role in Lizzie McGuire in 2001, and Muniz for his in 2002’s Malcolm in the Middle.
But things eventually took a turn
The pair were quite close, with Muniz having even made an appearance in an episode of Lizzie McGuire as himself.
But their friendship started to become strained after Muniz told Duff’s mother that he was going to star in 2003’s Agent Cody Banks.
He wasn’t a big fan of her mom
“I was on the set of Lizzie McGuire, and I was in Hilary’s dressing room and her mom was there,” Muniz recalled, adding that her mom, Susan, was ‘the epitome of a stage mom.’
“She was intense. Hilary was so cool, we had an awesome relationship, but her mom was super intense,” he said.
He hadn’t told this story before
Muniz said, “I’ve actually never told this story, and I might get in trouble for it, but I don’t care. I’m 40.”
“So her mom was like, ‘Do you know what you’re doing this summer? What are you doing this summer?’ And I go, ‘Oh, I’m filming this movie where I’m playing like a junior James Bond. It’s called Agent Cody Banks.’”
Muniz said her mom then asked about the lead
He went on to claim that Duff’s mom then asked if there was ‘a girl’ in the movie that would be good for Duff to play.
Muniz added that he was hoping that Smallville star Kristin Kreuk would be cast as the female lead in the movie, but he later found out things were different.
Duff’s mom told him she got cast the next day
“Her mom’s like, ‘Guess what? We’re going to be spending the summer together. She’s doing Cody Banks with you. They signed the contract last night,’” Muniz said.
“Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled about it. And not because I didn’t want it to be Hilary.”
He stopped seeing Duff after filming ended
Muniz emphasized, “I don’t know how much I want to say. I’m trying to think about it because I’ve already said way too much.”
He admitted that he was ‘very sad when Hilary’s mom would come on set’, adding that he hasn’t spoken to Duff ‘since the last day’ of shooting Agent Cody Banks.
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But he’d like to catch up with her
Despite this, Muniz said, “I regret not just continuing to be friends with her because we had a great friendship for such a long time, and I let her mom… it pissed me off.”
“I would love to catch up with her,” he went on. “I would love to even talk about that because I’m sure she doesn’t know any of that happened.”
