Frankie Muniz is ready to set the record straight on where his relationship with former costar Hilary Duff currently stands.
“There’s another story I haven’t told, and I don’t know if I want to tell it, but maybe I will. It’s been a long time,” Muniz, 39, shared on a September episode of “The Joe Vulpis Podcast” hosted by Joe Vulpis. “I was on the set of Lizzie McGuire, and I was in Hilary’s dressing room and her mom was there. Her mom was — I’m going to say — the epitome of a stage mom, momager. … Hilary was so cool, we had an awesome relationship, but her mom was super intense. My mom was the opposite.”
After Lizzie McGuire premiered in 2001, Duff, 38, asked Muniz — who was starring in Malcolm in the Middle at the time — to appear on her Disney Channel show as himself.
The actor said that Duff was one of the “first friends” he met after moving to Los Angeles, but their friendship was not able to stand the test of time after the actor claimed Duff’s mom questioned his career plans.
“Her mom was like, ‘Do you know what you’re doing this summer? What are you doing this summer?’” he recalled. “And I go, ‘Oh, I’m filming this movie where I’m playing like a junior James Bond. It’s called Agent Cody Banks.’”
When Duff’s mom questioned if the movie’s team was looking for an actress, Muniz stayed mum but knew “I had the say of who the girl was going to be.”
Although he initially thought Smallville’s Kristin Kreuk was going to take the role, he was surprised to learn Duff booked the film one day later.
“Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled about it. And not because I didn’t want it to be Hilary,” he said. “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.”
Hilary Duff, Frankie Muniz Walt Disney Enterprises / Courtesy Everett Collection
Although Agent Cody Banks was released in 2003 and was a hit at the box office, the movie’s leading characters didn’t exactly stay close.
“I’ve never talked to Hilary since the last day of filming,” Muniz said. “I’ve not said one word to her since then. So that’s the truth of that. No one knows about my Hilary Duff story.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Duff’s reps for comment.
To this day, Muniz said he doesn’t hold any ill feelings towards the former Disney Channel star. In fact, he said he regrets “not just continuing to be friends with her because we had a great friendship for such a long time.”
“I would love to catch up with her,” Muniz added. “I would love to even talk about that because I’m sure she doesn’t know any of that happened.”
More than two decades after first finding success in Hollywood, both Muniz and Duff remain booked and busy.
Muniz is expected to star in the upcoming Malcolm in the Middle revival.
As for Duff, she recently signed a deal with Atlantic Records to release new music. The “So Yesterday” singer also has a docuseries in the works that will document her long-awaited musical return and personal journey.
