He’s getting cleaner.
Frankie Muniz admitted that he ended his friendship with Hilary Duff after making the 2003 film Agent Cody Banks because he wasn’t a fan of his co-star’s mother.
“Hilary Duff was probably one of my first friends when I moved to Los Angeles to film ‘Malcolm,'” Muniz recalled on the Sept. 2 episode of “The Joe Vulpis Podcast.”
The two were introduced through mutual friends in Los Angeles, as some of the “Malcolm in the Middle” star’s friends lived in an apartment complex in Burbank, Calif., known for housing many child actors.
“We’ve become really, really good friends. We’ve had a really great relationship for a long time,” he continued.
After becoming close friends, Duff, 38, asked Muniz to appear as herself on Muniz’s Disney show “Lizzie McGuire” in 2002.
“I was on the set of ‘Lizzie McGuire,’ and I was in Hilary’s dressing room, and her mother was there,” Muniz recalled, describing Duff’s mother Susan as “the epitome of a stage mom.”
“She was intense. Hilary was very cool and our relationship was great, but her mother was very intense, and my mother was the opposite,” he added.
The “Big Fat Liar” star explained that she often “hid” while her mother worked on set because she “didn’t want to get in the way.”
While working together on Duff’s show, Muniz, then a teenager, recalled that the Disney star’s mother asked Duff, “What are you doing this summer?”
“And he said, ‘Oh, I’m doing this movie where I’m playing like a junior James Bond. It’s called ‘Agent Cody Banks.’
At that point, he claims, Susan asked Muniz if there were any “girl” roles in the film that would be suitable for Duff to take on. However, Muniz gave an informal response to the investigation.
On the podcast, Muniz explained that while the role of Natalie Connors will ultimately be played by Duff, he believes it will be played by Young Ville star Kristin Kreuk, who executives have expressed interest in for some time.
“The next morning I show up on set. I go to her dressing room and her mom goes, ‘You know what? We’re going to spend the summer together,'” Muniz said.
Muñiz, looking confused, excitedly asked Duff’s mother if she was planning to shoot another movie in Vancouver, Canada, where the 2003 film was shot.
But Susan told him, “No, she’s doing ‘Cody Banks’ with you… They signed the contract last night.” ”
“What movie did I know nothing about yesterday?” Muniz remembers asking in disbelief.
He went on to say that the casting came after “a call came in,” and that executives knew about his friendship with Duff and “thought it was OK” despite a clause in the contract giving Muniz a say in casting his girlfriend.
“Needless to say, I wasn’t excited about it. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to be Hillary,” he said.
“I don’t know how much I want to say. I’ve already said too much, so I’m trying to think about it,” Muniz said of the ordeal, adding that he had a “great time” while filming the movie, but was “so sad when Hilary’s mother ended up coming on set.”
“And when I say I haven’t spoken to Hilary once since the last day of filming, I haven’t said a word to her since then. So that’s the truth,” he concluded.
“I regret not staying friends with her because we had a great friendship with her for a long time. And her mother… it made me angry,” he shared.
However, Muniz added that he wants to “be closer” to Duff now that they’re both long past the drama of the movie. “I’d love to talk to her about that too, because I’m sure she doesn’t know it happened.”
Representatives for Mr. Duff did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
