Frankie Muniz has revealed he originally wasn’t looking forward to working alongside Hilary Duff in the 2003 kids’ spy movie Agent Cody Banks.
The Malcolm in the Middle alum and the Lizzie McGuire star co-starred in the film that followed Muniz playing a teenage CIA agent named Cody Banks, who is trying to spy on Duff’s character, Natalie Connors, in an attempt to get close to her scientist father and his invention of killer nanobots that could destroy the country.
However, before Duff and Muniz worked together on the film, he guest-starred on an episode of Duff’s Disney Channel sitcom, where he was also introduced to her mother, Susan Duff.
“I was on the set of Lizzie McGuire and I was in Hilary's dressing room and her mom was there and her mom was, I’m gonna say, the epitome of a stage mom,” he said during a September episode of the Joe Vulpis Podcast. “Hilary was so cool. We had an awesome relationship.”
Muniz said Duff’s mother asked what projects he was working on and if there would be a part for her daughter.
Muniz brought up Agent Cody Banks and Natalie’s character, but neglected to mention that he had a say in who was cast.
When the NASCAR driver appeared on the Lizzie McGuire set the next day, he was surprised with the news that Duff had been given the part.
“Her mom’s like, ‘Guess what? We’re going to be spending the summer together,’” Muiz recalled. “And I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ She’s like, ‘We’re going to be up in Vancouver together.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, what’s Hilary filming?’”
“I wasn’t mad. It was just shocking. I had a say. They didn’t ask me,” he continued on the podcast. “But 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.”
After filming the movie, Muniz revealed he never spoke to Duff again.
“I've never talked to Hilary since the last day of filming. I’ve not said one word to her since then,” he said. “There was a small dating element at the time. So there was also that element that wasn’t happening anymore, so it was awkward because of that.”
Muniz went on to pause his acting career when he was 21. In an interview with Us Weekly last month, he attested that leaving Hollywood for Phoenix saved his life. His step back from acting allowed him to pursue his passion for racing.
“I’m so lucky taking that step back happened, because it made me appreciate everything more,” he admitted. “It allowed me to do other things and realize a lot more about myself.
“I feel like it saved my life in the sense that I started enjoying the little aspects of life more, like hiking [and] going to the grocery store, because it was easy,” he continued. “I didn’t have to fight [to] find a parking spot or pay for valet.”
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