In the story of how Frankie Muniz met the mother of Hilary Duff, a chance encounter on the set of Lizzie McGuire set the stage for a summer filled with surprises. Before the Malcolm in the Middle actor collaborated with Hilary in the 2003 film Agent Cody Banks, he made a guest appearance on her Disney Channel series.
"I was on the set of Lizzie McGuire, in Hilary's dressing room, and her mom was there," Frankie recalled on the Joe Vulpis Podcast in September. "Her mom was, I'd say, the epitome of a stage mom."
As Frankie, who played himself on a 2002 episode of the Disney Channel series, described Susan Duff, he continued, "Hilary was so cool. We had an awesome relationship."
"Her mom was like, 'Do you know what you're doing this summer?'" he continued in the viral interview. "I said, 'Oh, I'm filming this movie where I'm playing a junior James Bond. It's called Agent Cody Banks.' She asked, 'Is there a girl that could be like Hilary, that would be good for Hilary?' I said, 'Yeah.' But I didn't know.'"
However, according to the 40-year-old actor, his contract allowed him to have a say in who would play the female supporting role of Natalie Connors in the 2003 spy comedy. He mentioned that Kristin Kreuk from Smallville was considered for the part and that he had pictured her when he read the script.
But when Frankie, who has recently focused on his NASCAR career, showed up to set on Lizzie McGuire the next morning and visited Hilary in her dressing room, he was in for a shock.
"Her mom's like, 'Guess what? We're going to be spending the summer together,'" Frankie recalled. "I said, 'What do you mean?' She said, 'We're going to be up in Vancouver together.' I said, 'Oh, what's Hilary filming?'"
It turned out that Hilary had been cast in Agent Cody Banks. "She said, 'They signed the contract last night,'" Frankie noted. "I wasn't mad. It was just shocking. I had a say. They didn't ask me. But supposedly, calls were made and they knew that Hillary 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."
Frankie explained that it wasn't because the How I Met Your Father star—who he said he ended up dating—was chosen but because he had a "certain vision" of what the female role would look like and that auditions were initially planned. "I've never talked to Hillary 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."
