Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz has revealed that she will not allow her son to follow in her footsteps and become a child star.
The actor, 38, who rose to fame as child prodigy Malcolm on the show which ran from 2000 to 2006, welcomed his son Mauz, now three, with wife Paige Price in 2021, said pedestrian television that “I would never let my son go into the business.”
He said: ‘And it’s not that I had a negative experience, because to be honest, my experience was 100% positive.
‘But I know a lot of people, friends close to me, who had incredibly negative experiences. It’s an ugly world in general.
‘I never minded rejection, but there is a lot of rejection.
Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz has revealed that she will not allow her son to follow in her footsteps and become a child star.
The actor, 38, rose to fame as child prodigy Malcolm on the show which ran from 2000 to 2006 (pictured with Bryan Cranston as Father Hal).
‘I would say that becoming a successful actor is like winning the lottery, because at first that’s what it is.
“I think people think it’s easy to get into this, but I like to be honest about it and say that there are a million people in Hollywood who tried it, maybe they’re amazing actors, they may be the best actors on the planet, but Ni you even have the chance.
“It’s not like coming into a different industry where you can work really hard and get into it.”
Muniz’s comments come after the airing of the documentary series Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids in which Drake Bell details his childhood sexual abuse.
Drake & Josh star Bell, 37, identified himself as the child who abused speech coach Brian Peck on the Investigation Discovery series.
Peck, 63, a registered sex offender, served 16 months in prison between 2004 and 2005 after being arrested on 11 charges, including sodomy, lewd act on a 14- or 15-year-old child by a person 10 years older, and Oral copulation using anesthesia or controlled substances.
The four-part docuseries from Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz described Brian as “one of the cogs in the Dan Schneider machine” as the Nickelodeon executive producer oversaw the crew accused of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate behavior on set.
“That was probably the darkest part of my career,” the 58-year-old Emmy nominee, who left Nickelodeon in 2018, admitted Tuesday in a 19-minute DanWarp YouTube video.
He said: ‘And it’s not that I had a negative experience, because to be honest, my experience was 100% positive. ‘But I know a lot of people, friends close to me, who had incredibly negative experiences. It’s an ugly world in general’ (pictured with his son Mauz)
Muniz shares Mauz with his wife Paige Price; the couple photographed in 2017
‘Watching the last two nights was very difficult. I confront my past behaviors, some of which are shameful and which I regret. “I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.”
Brian was also an associate of canceled director Bryan Singer, who hosted notorious Hollywood parties filled with underage boys, and his career ended in 2019 after facing a series of his own sexual assault allegations.
Muniz also talked about the upcoming Malcolm in the Middle reboot, saying “without giving too much away because nothing is confirmed, but it’s the closest it’s been to being a reality.”
Speculation about a reboot has been ongoing for several years, and now discussions are underway and the cast is eager to return.
“I think it would be really fun to dive into that world and see where everyone is, as adults, because really, the possibilities are endless where everyone can be,” she said.
‘I’d love to explore it. And I know conversations are happening.’
‘We want to make sure it’s good. With an iconic show like the one we had, you don’t want to tarnish it. “You want to have the same impact for people who want to see it.”
Along with Frankie, the show also starred Bryan Cranston, 68, as Hal, Jane Kaczmarek, 68, as mother Lois, and Christopher Kennedy Masterson, Justin Berfield and Erik Per Sullivan as brothers Francis, Reese and Dewey, respectively.
Frankie played the main character of the series which will celebrate its 25th anniversary since the premiere of season 1 in January 2025.
The seven-time Emmy Award-winning comedy focused on the talented middle child, Malcolm, who had an IQ of 165.
Each episode’s story arc tended to focus on the various antics of Malcolm and his noticeably less intelligent siblings.
“The show ended 18 years ago, so it’s crazy that there’s still a lot of interest,” he added.