Frankie Muniz Recalls How Hilary Duff’s Mom Hijacked ‘Agent Cody Banks’ Casting: “It Pissed Me Off”

More than two decades later, Frankie Muniz is declassifying a little known behind-the-scenes secret about Agent Cody Banks.

The 2x Golden Globe nominee recently recalled how his co-star Hilary Duff‘s mother Susan was “the epitome of a stage mom” as she interfered with the casting process to get her daughter the female lead role on the 2003 kids action movie after he appeared on her Disney Channel show Lizzie McGuire.

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“Hilary Duff was probably one of my first friends when I moved to LA to film Malcolm [in the Middle],” he prefaced on The Joe Vulpis Podcast. “We became really, really good friends. We had a really great relationship for a long time.”

Noting he hadn’t shared the story before, Muniz recounted, “I don’t know if I want to tell it, but maybe I will. It’s been a long time. I was on the set of Lizzie McGuire, and I was in Hilary’s dressing room and her mom was there.”

“She was intense. Hilary was so cool, we had an awesome relationship, but her mom was super intense,” added Muniz, noting that his own mother was “the opposite” and would “hide” on set. “[She] didn’t want to be in the way.”

“I’ve actually never told this story, and I might get in trouble for it, but I don’t care. I’m 40,” said Muniz. “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.’”

The actor recalled Susan asked him if there was “a girl” in the movie Hilary could play. While he acted noncommittal, Muniz “really thought” the role of Natalie Conners would go to Kristin Kreuk, as his contract allowed him to choose who got the part.

The “next day,” Muniz saw Susan in her daughter’s dressing room again. “And her mom’s like, ‘Guess what? We’re going to be spending the summer together.’”

Muniz assumed Hilary got a part on another movie in Vancouver. “‘No, she’s doing Cody Banks with you… They signed the contract last night,’” Susan told him.

“The movie you knew nothing about yesterday?” he remembered thinking. Muniz reached out to his agents, who told him “calls were made,” and since he and Hilary were friends, “They just assumed it was fine.

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

Muniz clarified that he enjoyed filming the movie, but “was very sad when Hilary’s mom would come on set,” adding: “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.”

Although Hilary and her mother were both “professional,” he explained there was an “awkwardness” on set.

“I regret not just continuing to be friends with her because we had a great friendship for such a long time, and her mom… it pissed me off,” added Muniz. “I would love to catch up with her. I would love to even talk about that because I’m sure she doesn’t know any of that happened.”

In Agent Cody Banks, Muniz starred as the titular high school student who is secretly a CIA agent, sent to befriend Natalie Conners (Duff), the daughter of a scientist who has invented killer nanobots that threaten to bring down the country.

Muniz reprised the role a year later for Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London. Duff did not return for the sequel, with S Club 7’s Hannah Spearrit playing his new female lead Emily Sommers.

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