For years, Frankie Muniz has kept quiet about his falling out with co-star Hilary Duff, who he hasn’t spoken to since 2003.
He’s now revealed how their ‘awesome relationship’ collapsed after he felt her mum had undermined him to get Hilary a role.
Frankie, 39, is returning to the spotlight for a Malcolm in the Middle reboot and finally spoke about this uncomfortable feud.
The actors had been close friends at the time, with Frankie appearing on an episode of Lizzie McGuire.
He told The Joe Vulpis podcast that he had crossed paths with Hilary’s mum, Susan, in the dressing rooms and she was ‘the epitome of a stage mom’.
‘She was intense,’ he said. ‘Hilary was so cool, we had an awesome relationship, but her mom was super intense.’
Frankie recalled how her mum had spoken to him about his next project, Agent Cody Banks, one day, then landed Hilary the leading lady the next.
‘I’ve actually never told this story, and I might get in trouble for it, but I don’t care. I’m 40,’ he laughed.
Susan asked if there were any parts for Hilary in the film, to which Frankie replied he wasn’t sure, despite having sway over casting for the role of Natalie Connors.
At the time, they had been considering Kristin Kreuk, who starred in Smallville, to play Natalie.
He continued: ‘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!” She was like, “We’re gonna be up in Vancouver together!”‘
Frankie asked what Hilary was filming and excitedly shared how they could have dinners together and ‘hang out’ — then her mum explained Hilary was also doing Cody Banks.
(Picture: MGM/Everett/Shutterstock)
They had signed the contract the night before, hours after he had mentioned it and with no communication with the star.
He said: ‘And I’m like, “The movie you knew nothing about yesterday, you signed – how – it’s not possible! It’s not humanly possible.”‘
After this, he reached out to his agents to ask how that had happened, learning that the casting department ‘just assumed it was fine’ since their friendship was well known.
‘So needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled about it,’ Frankie added. ‘And not because I didn’t want it to be Hilary. Just because they went around me.’
Whenever Susan would visit the set, the Big Fat Liar actor admitted to feeling ‘very sad’ and has not spoken to his former friend since.
He shared: ‘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.’
Frankie regrets not keeping in touch with Hilary, who recently starred in How I Met Your Father, and would be open to speaking to her.
The feeling appears to be mutual, as a source told The Daily Mail, the A Cinderella Story icon is more than willing to mend bridges with old friends.
‘Now growing up, being a mom, especially after Aaron Carter’s passing, Hilary has wanted to mend past issues and relationships and just move into her future with no regrets,’ they said.
The source said she would want to ‘just establish a new connection and if it led to being friends again, that would be nice. No worries if it doesn’t happen, but it would be nice.’
Metro has reached out to Hilary Duff’s team for comment.
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