When Hilary Duff finally drops her new album, will there be a song on there about her lost friendship with Frankie Muniz? On a September episode of The Joe Vulpis Podcast, Muniz claimed Duff’s mother came between them by maneuvering to get Duff cast as the romantic lead in Agent Cody Banks. “We were best friends from 12, 13 years old until then,” he told “Page Six” on October 29, following up on his podcast appearance.
It began when Muniz guest-starred on Duff’s Disney Channel show in 2002. “I was on the set of Lizzie McGuire, and I was in Hilary’s dressing room and her mom was there,” he said on the podcast. Duff’s mom asked what Muniz was working on that summer. “And I go, ‘Oh, I’m filming this movie where I’m playing like a junior James Bond.’” Muniz says Mama Duff got Hilary cast as Natalie Connors by the next morning. (He’d wanted Smallville’s Kristin Kreuk for the part.) “Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled about it. And not because I didn’t want it to be Hilary,” he continued. “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.”
Click here to preview your posts with PRO themes ››
Muniz then added that he hadn’t spoken to Duff since the last day of filming. “I regret not just continuing to be friends with her because we had a great friendship for such a long time,” he said. “And I let her mom … it pissed me off.” Maybe she’ll go full circle and guest on the Malcolm in the Middle reboot for closure.
