Frankie Muniz is opening up about the surprising reason he and former costar Hilary Duff drifted apart.
The actor, 39, who rose to fame as a child star with projects like “Big Fat Liar” and “Malcolm in the Middle,” told hosts of the “The Joe Vulpis Podcast” in a Sept. 2 episode that his friendship with Duff had ended in part because of his dislike for her mom.
“Hilary Duff was probably one of my first friends when I moved to LA,” Muniz said. “We became really, really good friends. We had a really great relationship for a long time.” Things took a turn, however, the actor recalled, when he was asked to make a guest appearance on Duff’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 mom was there,” he recalled, describing Duff’s mother, Susan, an agent and producer, as “the epitome of a stage mom.”
“She was intense. Hilary was so cool, we had an awesome relationship, but her mom was super intense. And my mom was the opposite,” he continued. Muniz went on to recount sharing with Susan that he was slated to film the 2003 movie “Agent Cody Banks” that summer, only to discover the next morning that she had allegedly made some calls and gotten Duff cast in the semi-leading role of Natalie Connors.
“Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled about it. And not because I didn’t want it to be Hilary,” Muniz said, explaining he had originally been told he would have final say over his love interest in the film, and Duff’s mother hadn’t known about the project before he shared his summer plans.
“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 continued, adding that while he had an “amazing time” filming the movie, it was “very sad when Hilary’s mom would come on set.”
“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,” he said. “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.”
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