Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz has revealed he won’t let his son follow in his footsteps and become a child star.
The actor, 38, who shot to fame as child prodigy Malcolm in the show which ran from 2000-2006 welcomed son Mauz, now three, with wife Paige Price in 2021, told Pedestrian TV that he would ‘never let my kid into the business.’
He said: ‘And not that I had a negative experience, because to be honest, my experience was 100% positive.
‘But I know so many people, friends that were close to me, that had such insanely negative experiences. It’s an ugly world in general.
‘I never cared about rejection but there’s a ton of rejection.
Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz has revealed he won’t let his son follow in his footsteps and become a child star.
The actor, 38, shot to fame as child prodigy Malcolm in the show which ran from 2000-2006 (pictured with Bryan Cranston as dad Hal)
‘I would say becoming a successful actor is like winning the lottery, because in the beginning, that’s what it is.
‘I think people think it’s an easy thing to break into but I like to be honest about it and say there’s a million people in Hollywood who tried, maybe they’re amazing actors — they can be the best actors on the planet — but they don’t even get the opportunity.
‘It’s not like going into a different industry where you can work really hard and get into it.’
Muniz’s comments come after the airing of Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids docuseries which saw Drake Bell detail his childhood sexual abuse.
Drake & Josh star Bell, 37, identified himself as the minor who dialogue coach Brian Peck molested, on the Investigation Discovery series.
Registered sex offender Peck, 63, served 16 months in prison in 2004-2005 after being arrested on 11 charges — including sodomy, lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older, and oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance.
Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz’s four-part docuseries described Brian as ‘very much 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 in a 19-minute DanWarp YouTube video on Tuesday.
He said: ‘And not that I had a negative experience, because to be honest, my experience was 100% positive. ‘But I know so many people, friends that were close to me, that had such insanely negative experiences. It’s an ugly world in general’ (pictured with son Mauz)
Muniz shares Mauz with wife Paige Price; the couple pictured in 2017
‘Watching over the past two nights was very difficult. Me facing my past behaviors – some of which are embarrassing and that 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 slew of his own sexual assault allegations.
Muniz also spoke about the upcoming Malcolm in the Middle reboot, saying ‘without giving away too much because there’s nothing confirmed, but it’s the closest it’s ever been to being a reality’.
Speculation about a reboot has been ongoing for a number of years, and now discussions are underway, with the cast keen to return.
‘I think it’d be a lot of fun to dive into that world and see where everybody is, as adults because really, the possibilities are endless where everybody can be,’ he said
‘I’d love to explore it. And I know there are conversations happening,’
‘We want to make sure it’s good. With an iconic show like we had, you don’t want to taint it. You want to have the same impact for the people who would want to watch it.’
Along with Frankie, the show also starred Bryan Cranston, 68, as Hal, Jane Kaczmarek, 68, as mom Lois, and Christopher Kennedy Masterson, Justin Berfield and Erik Per Sullivan as brothers Francis, Reese and Dewey respectively.
Frankie played the titular character on the series that will celebrate its 25th anniversary of its season 1 premiere in January 2025
The seven-time Emmy-winning comedy centred on gifted middle child Malcolm, who boasted a 165 IQ.
The story arc of each episode tended to centre on the various hijinks of Malcolm and his markedly less intelligent brothers.
‘The show ended 18 years ago so it’s crazy that there’s still a lot of interest,’ he added.