Best known for his portrayal of the titular lead in the hit 2000s Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle,
Frankie Muniz was at one point considered to be one of the most popular child actors in
Hollywood. Muniz reached the peak of his fame in the early to mid-2000s when Malcolm in the Middle
was still airing. For that iconic role, he earned two Golden Globe nods and one Emmy nomination.
While Malcolm was still on the air - and for a few years afterward - Muniz appeared
in several theatrical films, including Deuces Wild and Big Fat Liar – both of
which hit theaters in 2002. He followed that up with leading roles in 2003s Agent Cody
Banks and 2005s Racing Stripes. During this time, his face was often featured
prominently on the covers of publications like TV Guide and Nickelodeon Magazine.
Muniz, like countless former child stars that came before him, struggled to find continued
success after Malcolm in the Middle ended its seven-season run. In 2008,
he put his once-prolific acting career on hold to pursue some of his other passions.
In this video, we'll be taking a look at how and why Frankie Muniz
left Hollywood behind. We'll review his career in the last
decade or so while also checking in to see what he's been up to lately.
Facts Verse Presents: Malcolm in the Middle's Frankie Muniz Completely Changed His Career
He's Now a NASCAR Driver
It's crazy when you realize just how fast time seems to fly. In some ways, it seems
like it was just yesterday that Frankie Muniz was sharing the screen with future-Breaking Bad star
Bryan Cranston while on the set of Malcolm in the Middle. Flash forward to today and Muniz is now 37
years old and Cranston's portrayal of Malcolm's hapless father seems like a distant memory.
In January of 2023, Muniz announced that he will soon be taking part in
NASCAR races as he takes yet another step closer to achieving his longtime dream of
driving at stock car racing's most elite level. Muniz revealed that he was all set
to join Rette Jones Racing as a driver in the ARCA Menard series during the 2023 season.
This series is considered to be essentially the minor league of stock car racing. It's
often used as a stepping stone to help up-and-coming drivers to hone their skills
while working their way up to the top-level Cup series. To put things into perspective,
the series ranks right below NASCAR"S third and second tiers, the Truck and Xfinitiy series.
After making that announcement, Muniz's team shared several videos and photos from
Florida's Daytona International Speedway, where he was giving his new wheels a little test run.
Back in July 2022, Muniz sat down to do an interview with Dave Moody
of SirirusXM NASCAR Radio. In that conversation, Frankie revealed that he
was already in talks with several teams to start racing at various NASCAR levels.
He went on to say that he was trying to keep his expectations in check while
being realistic. He admitted that he didn't have a lot of experience with oval racing,
but shared that he was excited to see where things would take him in the upcoming year.
He Grew Up As a Racing Fan
Frankie's been driving competitively since 2006, but he's been a fan of the sport for as far back
as he can remember. Before announcing that he would be competing with Rette Jones Racing,
Muniz told reporters attending the FS1 booth during the NASCAR All-Star
Open last year that he likes to say now that he only does acting on the side.
At this point, he wants to make racing his primary focus. He elaborated on that by
saying that racing is one of those things in life that you really have to give you're all too.
"You can't just dot it Halfway", Muniz said before discussing how he's in a position where he is up
against people that have been racing competitively since they were 'six years old'. Realizing that he
has a lot of ground to make up for, Muniz reiterated his intention to learn quickly.
There's Talk Of A Malcolm Reboot
In 2016, Bryan Cranston expressed his interest in doing a Malcolm in the Middle reboot or
reunion. In 2021, Frankie Muniz appeared on Steve-O's podcast and disclosed that Cranston
was already working on a script for a movie reunion. He went on to reveal that the entire
cast – sans one holdout - had already confirmed their interest to do the project. At that time,
Muniz failed to mention who the identity of that one holdout was. Because of this,
some have speculated that it was, in fact, Frankie himself who wasn't ready to commit to such a film.
Racing Isn't A New Passion
Muniz, as we've already mentioned, has long been a fan of car racing. Back in February 2001,
he got the chance to drive the pace car for the Daytona 500. He also got to meet
one of his heroes, Dale Earnhardt, shortly before he entered his vehicle for the race.
Sadly, Muniz, who was also attending the race to film an episode of MTV's docu-series True Life,
witnessed Earnhardt's fatal crash during the final lap of the race.
In 2004, Frankie ran the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race in Long Beach,
California, as a celebrity competitor. He ended up placing seventh in the race. A year later,
he competed again, this time finishing in third.
In 2006, Muniz signed a two-year deal with Jensen Motorsport as a driver. For that
year's Formula BMW USA season, he competed in fourteen races but failed to finish in
a point-scoring position. He then competed in the annual Formula BMW World Final at Valencia,
placing 29th out of 36 drivers. In April, he competed once again in the Toyota Pro/
Celebrity race finishing in 11th after starting in 19th.
In 2007, Frankie leveled up by competing in the more competitive Champ Car Atlantic Series,
participating in the entire season of twelve races. His best race during the season saw
him finish in 9th place. Overall he earned a total of 41 points which landed him 22nd place
and $17,000. That same year he also placed second at the Sebring Winter National Race.
In 2008, he signed with Pacific Coast Motorsports and finished the
season in eleventh place. At the end of the season, he also won the Jovy Macelo Award,
a sportsmanship honor that's voted on by fellow drivers.
In 2009, Frankie joined Team Stargate Worlds. Throughout the season,
he finished in the top 10 of every race he competed in. Unfortunately,
right before the penultimate race, he had to pull out early due to a wrist injury.
On the 23rd of October, 2021, Muniz made his stock car racing debut, competing in the SRL
Pro Late Model series driving with High Point Racing at Kern County Raceway Park,
In Bakersfield, California. A few months later, in January 2022, he participated
in the ARCA Menards Series test over at Daytona International Speedway.
Frankie's Health Issues
In November 2012, at 26, Muniz was hospitalized after having what doctors believed was a
transient ischemic attack, otherwise known as a mini-stroke. A year later,
he had a second attack that was at time diagnosed as a mini-stroke.
Several years later, in October 2017, Muniz was asked about his health but replied by
saying that he hadn't had any recent issues. That being said, later that month it was
claimed on the show Dancing with the Stars that he was suffering from significant amnesia which
was speculated to be caused by sustaining multiple concussions when he was younger.
Sadly, it seems that Muniz is unable to remember the majority of his time
on the set of Malcolm in the Middle. It's also been reported that Bryan Cranston
frequently calls him to remind them of the good times that they once shared together.
In a startling flip-flop, in 2021 while a guest on Steve-O's Wild Ride! Podcast,
Muniz claimed that the mini-strokes had been a misdiagnosis and that he was actually just
suffering from migraine auras. He went on to clarify that the stories of his alleged
memory loss had been greatly exaggerated by the media. Apparently, after making an
innocuous statement somewhere along the lines of "Man, I don't remember what happened in 2001",
the press misinterpreted that to mean that he was suffering from something more serious.
He Still Acts Occasionally
As previously stated, Frankie likes to think of himself now as a full-time
race car driver and part-time actor. After Malcolm in the Middle ended,
Muniz took a step away from Hollywood so that he could try and have a normal life as a teenager.
Muniz told Fox News Digital in October 2022 that by stepping away from the spotlight,
he was able to save himself from the horrors that often plague child stars as they grow older. The
last thing he wanted was to fall victim to that notorious and highly-documented curse.
In addition to racing, Muniz has also played drums in a couple of bands,
including You Hang Up and Kingsfoil. The former never got signed,
but Kingsfoil did find a degree of success between 2012 and 1014.
In 2017, Muniz announced that he was managing a York, Pennsylvania-based band called Astro Lasso.
While he's certainly not very active in Hollywood these days,
Muniz does occasionally show up on the screen. In 2012, he made a cameo appearance in Don't
Trust The B---- in Apartment 23. Then in 2015, he made another appearance in The Mysteries of Laura.
More recently, in 2017, Muniz competed in the 25th season of Dancing with the Stars. He and
his partner Witney Carson ended up finishing the season in third place. The following
year, it was announced that Muniz would be co-hosting Dancing with the Stars Juniors.
We personally would like to wish Frankie Muniz good luck with his NASCAR dreams. It seems like
he has the drive to succeed. That being said, we'd still very much so like to see a Malcolm
in the Middle reunion film, so if you're watching this Frankie, see what you can do!
Did you know that Frankie Muniz is now a professional race car
driver and that he will be competing in NASCAR races this year? Let us know in
the comments, and as always, thanks for watching!