Frankie Muniz has opened up about sidestepping the child-star curse that derailed many of his peers.
Muniz, 40, said in an exclusive interview ahead of Wednesday’s Proud to Honor Veterans Day Classic at Florida’s Daytona International Speedway that he “never” cared about “fame” itself. The actor was just 13 when he began filming “Malcolm in the Middle,” the hit sitcom that made him a household name, and he watched contemporaries including Amanda Bynes and the late Hayden Panettiere struggle with the spotlight’s pressures.
“I think a lot of people who get into the business or find popularity or fame or whatever it may be — success at a young age — you expect it to continue,” he explained. “You expect it to always be there. And as that starts to go away, as the phone rings less and less, I feel like that’s shocking, like that rejection or the feeling of rejection is shocking for a lot of people to take. And maybe they go and look for something else to fill that void or fill that feeling that they are being wanted or needed or admired.”
Muniz insisted he “never necessarily cared about” that validation. “I don’t care if people like me,” he added. “I’m just me. And I’m doing what I want to do. I just so happen to go from being an actor on a TV show to racing cars.”
That transition was hardly direct. Between Hollywood and the track, Muniz drummed for and managed several musical groups, then acquired and sold an olive oil company with his recently estranged wife, Paige Price. The couple share 5-year-old son Mauz.
Elaborating on the “many lives” he’s lived, Muniz emphasized he “did not choose those things because they’re in the spotlight; they just happen to be. In that same sense, it almost puts more pressure [on me] … that I actually use as motivation to prove myself.”
Now a Ford NASCAR driver, Muniz has found racing to be both rewarding and punishing. Though he has “had some success in the racing world,” he acknowledged that it’s also “been a little bit of a roller coaster.”
He drew a sharp contrast between his two careers. As an actor, he “can be happy with [his] performance,” which is ultimately “subjective” and based on “whether the viewer likes it.” But as a race car driver, “it’s not subjective; you’re either the winner or you’re not.”
Muniz, who has been candid about his mental health struggles in the past, also stressed that much of racing, which he described as a “mental game,” is “out of your control,” as drivers’ success can be affected by “someone else’s mistake” or “a mechanical failure.”
“In the beginning, it was really tough because I couldn’t get over thinking of what went wrong or what I could have done differently. And I would say I’ve gotten a lot better at that the last maybe two seasons,” he shared, revealing that his newfound approach is to focus on the “next” opportunity and not “live in the past.”
Despite being among the oldest professional race car drivers, Muniz is full speed ahead. He told the outlet he’ll “slow down” when the sport stops exciting him, but that doesn’t mean acting is off the table.
This past spring, he and his “Malcolm in the Middle” co-stars “got the band back together” for a four-episode revival miniseries, “Life’s Still Unfair.”
Among those who reprised their roles was Bryan Cranston, 70, who played Muniz’s on-screen dad and served as a real-life “father figure,” too. Muniz credited the Emmy winner with getting him into racing back in 2004, and Cranston was set to attend Wednesday’s Daytona event to cheer him on — a “full-circle moment” for the pair.
“I’ve always admired him and looked up to him as a role model because of the way he dedicated himself to 100 percent of whatever he was doing on set, even just being a human, just talking to the crew and just being a nice guy and getting to know everybody and know about their families,” Muniz marveled. “Bryan was always as dedicated as you could be, whether he was on camera or not, and no matter what the scene was, he gave it 100 percent. So I’ve always looked at that and said, ‘That’s how I want to be. I want people to think the same thing of me when they work with me and just be the nice, personal guy that is just very excited for the opportunity and gives it my all.'”
Muniz noted that Cranston has “always been so supportive” of all his career endeavors.
As for the potential for a full-blown “Malcolm in the Middle” reboot, Muniz was careful not to “say too much” but did assure fans that there have been “talks.”
The Proud to Honor Veterans Day Classic at Daytona International Speedway marked a first-of-its-kind night combining racing, music, and honoring service members.