Frankie Muniz hasn't talked to Hilary Duff since her 'intense' mom interfered in Agent Cody Banks...

&34;Hilary was so cool, we had an awesome relationship, but her mom was super intense,&34; the &34;Malcolm in the Middle&34; star opined. Frankie Muniz hasn't t

"Hilary was so cool, we had an awesome relationship, but her mom was super intense," the "Malcolm in the Middle" star opined.

Frankie Muniz hasn't talked to Hilary Duff since her 'intense' mom interfered in Agent Cody Banks casting

"Hilary was so cool, we had an awesome relationship, but her mom was super intense," the "Malcolm in the Middle" star opined.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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October 28, 2025 3:23 p.m. ET

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Hilary Duff and Frankie Muniz in 'Agent Cody Banks'. Credit:

- Frankie Muniz said that he used to have an "awesome relationship" with Hilary Duff.

- The actor said everything changed after Duff's "intense" mom interfered in the *Agent Cody Banks* casting process.

- Muniz said, "I regret not just continuing to be friends with her" despite her mom's alleged behavior.

Frankie Muniz hasn't spoken to Hilary Duff since they finished *Agent Cody Banks* in 2002 — and he claims that her mom is to blame.

The *Malcolm in the Middle* star detailed his falling out with his former friend on a September episode of *The Joe Vulpis Podcast*. "Hilary Duff was probably one of my first friends when I moved to L.A.," Muniz began. "We became really, really good friends. We had a really great relationship for a long time. She asked me to do *Lizzie McGuire*, which I was like, 'Yeah!'"

Muniz said that while he was shooting a 2002 episode of Duff's Disney Channel series, he had an awkward encounter with her mother in his costar's dressing room. "Her mom was, I'm gonna say the epitome of a stage mom. Momager," he opined. "She was intense. Hilary was so cool, we had an awesome relationship, but her mom was super intense."

Representatives for Duff did not immediately respond to **'s request for comment.

Frankie Muniz at the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series eero 250 in Richmond, Va., on Aug. 15, 2025.

Samuel Corum/Getty

The actor said that Duff's mother asked what projects he had lined up for the summer of 2002, when *Malcolm in the Middle* would be on hiatus. "I go, 'Oh, I'm filming this movie where I'm playing like a junior James Bond. It's called *Agent Cody Banks*,'" he remembered telling her.  "And she's like, 'Is there a girl that could be Hilary, that would be good for Hilary?' And I was like, 'Yeah, but I dunno.'"

Muniz said that he declined to tell Duff's mom that he had input on who would be cast as Natalie Connors, the female lead of the spy comedy — and that he personally hoped that *Smallville* star Kristin Kreuk would land the part. "In my mind, when I read the script, I pictured her as the girl," he said. "So I really thought that that was what it was gonna be." (EW has reached out to a representative for Kreuk for comment.)

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The *Racing Stripes* star was surprised to hear that Duff would be joining him in Vancouver just one day later. "The next morning I show up to the set, I go into her dressing room to hang out, and her mom's like, 'Guess what? We're gonna be spending the summer together!'" he recalled. "She was like, 'We're gonna be up in Vancouver together!' I'm like, 'Oh, what's Hilary filming? Is she filming a movie up there too? That's awesome! We'll get to hang out, we'll have dinners.' She goes, 'No, she's doing *Cody Banks* with you.'"

Muniz was flabbergasted. "I looked at her and I went, 'No she's not!'" he remembered. "She's like, 'No, yeah, yeah, she is. They signed the contract last night.' And I'm like, 'The movie you knew nothing about yesterday, you signed — how — it's not possible! It's not humanly possible.'"

Hilary Duff in Los Angeles on Oct. 18, 2025.

John Shearer/FilmMagic

The actor said that he called his agents to ascertain how Duff could have been cast without his input. "I'm like, 'Hey, I'm just wondering' — I wasn't mad, it was just shocking, 'cause I had the say, they didn't ask me," he said. "Supposedly, calls were made, and they knew that Hilary and I were really close, and I was filming her show, so they just assumed it was fine. So needless to say, I wasn't thrilled about it. And not because I didn't want it to be Hilary. Just because they went around me."

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Muniz said that the casting drama cast an uncomfortable shadow over the *Agent Cody Banks* set. "I was very sad when Hilary's mom would come on set," he said. "I'm being honest, you know what I mean? I'm old enough to where I realize I don't mind people knowing the truth."

He continued, "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 that no one knows about."

Muniz is remorseful about his falling out with Duff. "I look back at it now, and I go like, what a dumb — I regret not just continuing to be friends with her," he said. "We were friends. We had a great friendship for such a long time. And I let her mom — it pissed me off."

He concluded, "I would love to catch up with her. I would love to even talk about that, 'cause I'm sure she doesn't know any of that happened."**

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