Frankie Muniz Hasn’t Spoken to Hilary Duff After ‘Agent Cody Banks’ Drama

Frankie Muniz revealed during an episode of “The Joe Vulpis Podcast” last month that he not spoken to Hilary Duff in the 22 years since they starred in “Agent Cody Banks” together (via People). Muniz blamed Duff’s mother for creating a split between the two young actors after she allegedly interfered in the movie’s casting process and went behind Muniz’ back to get Duff cast as the female lead in the action comedy.

Muniz and Duff met as teenagers as their careers took off around the same time, with Duff’s Disney channel series “Lizzie McGuire” premiering in 2001 and Muniz’s Fox sitcom “Malcom in the Middle” debuting in 2002. Muniz even cameoed as himself on Duff’s series.

“We became really, really good friends. We had a really great relationship for a long time,” Muniz remembered. “I was on the set of ‘Lizzie McGuire,’ and I was in Hilary’s dressing room and her mom was there… 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.’”

Muniz said he told Duff’s mom all about “Agent Cody Banks,” and she allegedly responded by asking if the movie had a female lead yet. According to Muniz, the production was already interested in casting “Smallville” star Kristin Kreuk opposite him and he “really thought” Cody’s love interest, Natalie Connors, would be played by her when he read the script. Plans suddenly changed, however. Muniz said the next time he spoke to Duff’s mother (which was the very next morning) she was informing him that Duff had already been cast.

“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, adding that he was shocked and remembered thinking: “The movie you knew nothing about yesterday?”

Muniz was surprised because he thought he was at a point in his career where he would have pull with the studio when it came to finding his “Agent Cody Banks” co-star. He called his agents, who confirmed that “calls were made” about casting Duff in the role. The agents “just assumed it was fine” since he was already close with Duff, as proven by him cameoing on “Lizzie McGuire.”

“Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled about it. And not because I didn’t want it to be Hilary,” Muniz 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.”

“Agent Cody Banks” ultimately went into production with Muniz and Duff as the leads, with Muniz saying: “I was very sad when Hilary’s mom would come on set… And if I told you I’ve never talked to Hilary since the last day of filming. 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.”

Muniz then got honest by sharing the guilt he feels for not having continued his friendship with Duff just because of what her mother allegedly did to him by going behind his back.

“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,” Muniz said. “I would love to catch up with her [in the future]. I would love to even talk about that because I’m sure she doesn’t know any of that happened.”

“Agent Cody Banks,” directed by Harald Zwart, opened in theaters in March 2003 from MGM and grossed nearly $60 million worldwide. Muniz played the title role, a 15-year-old teenager who goes undercover for the CIA as a super-spy. The supporting cast featured Angie Harmon, Keith David and Ian McShane. Muniz returned for the 2004 sequel, “Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London,” but Duff did not.

Watch Muniz’s full interview on the “The Joe Vulpis Podcast” in the video below.