Frankie Muniz is stuck in the middle again, 20 years after Malcolm in the Middle ended its seven-season run, and getting back into character was like coming home for the actor.
Ahead of Friday’s release of the four-part Hulu revival Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, Muniz explained to Deadline how playing the title boy genius during “so many of the formative years of my life” influenced him as an adult.
“My wife and I watched the show for the [first time], she had never seen the show, and we watched it a few years ago,” he recalled. “And we got to the end of [the series finale], and she looked at me and she goes, ‘You weren’t acting at all. You are Malcolm.’ And I didn’t know how to take that at first.”
Muniz continued, “I kinda realized that so many of the formative years of my life, from 12, 13 to 19, I was filming the show. And if you think about it, even though you’re acting, you still are putting yourself in that world, right? You’re putting yourself through those circumstances and those situations and those emotions. Even though you’re pretending, they’re still coming out of you. And I wonder sometimes if a lot of the similarities of me and Malcolm are because that’s what I did for so long.”
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Although Muniz opened up in the past about memory loss he experienced during his time on the 2000-’06 Fox sitcom, the actor clarified that it’s something his co-stars also went through, but the revival brought back a lot of those memories.
“It did. I mean, even walking onto the set for the first time, it was surreal, because so many things do kind of flood your memory, so many on-camera, off-camera things, moments, stories that we were telling each other and all that,” explained Muniz. “But a lot of the memory thing, I was just doing some interviews with Bryan [Cranston] and Jane [Kaczmarek], and they were saying the same thing. They’ll sometimes turn on episodes and they go like, ‘I don’t remember filming that at all. How do I not remember that? I don’t even know what’s gonna happen.’”
Muniz added, “And as a kid, especially, you get so used to experiencing something or doing it and then, they say ‘cut’ and you’re done filming that scene and you forget it. You kinda go like, ‘OK, done with that. Onto the next emotion. What’s next?’ And I almost feel like I took that on in my life in general. I’ve experienced so many insane things and done so much in such a short time, but I kind of do the thing or do the experience, and as soon as we’re done, I forget it. I kind of just push it to the side and go on to the next thing. So, a lot of the times, I don’t remember a lot of the things I did, and it’s not for any reason other than the fact that my brain is just completely full of experience and doing things.”
In Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, Muniz reprises his once-angsty teenage character, who is now a father of his own. When his parents Hal (Cranston) and Lois (Kaczmarek) demand his presence at their anniversary party, Malcolm is forced to stop avoiding his dysfunctional family while attempting to protect his daughter Leah (Keeley Karsten) from their chaotic dynamic.
Read on about Frankie Muniz’s return in Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, all four episodes available to stream Friday on Hulu.
DEADLINE: I grew up watching Malcolm in the Middle, so I’m excited for this revival. Tell me about what made you decide to come back and bringing this to fruition with Bryan Cranston.
FRANKIE MUNIZ: I mean, it really was 10 years in the making. I remember watching all the episodes, and I think I tweeted in 2015 or 2016 something about like, “It’d be really fun to see where Malcolm and his family are now.” And that kind of went viral, you know what I mean? A lot of news publications picked it up. I couldn’t believe the fan response of how many people really wanted it, it was almost shocking. I know the show was successful. I know people like the show, but when you remove yourself for 10 years and then there’s so many people saying they would love to see it—so, I started talking to Bryan about it a little bit, and he had mentioned to me at dinner one time, he’s like, “There’s not a character that I’ve played that I want to revisit more than Hal.” And so, he really kind of took the lead with getting Linwood [Boomer] on board, and kind of pushing to come up with a story. And it really took 10 years, so I knew that there was a possibility it might happen, but it’s one of those things that until it happens, it’s not happening, you know what I mean? So, it was all talk, and so when I got word that we were actually gonna start filming and all that, I was thrilled. I wasn’t gonna miss the opportunity. There was nothing that was gonna make me miss that opportunity to be a part of it, and I had an absolute blast making it.
DEADLINE: I know you were a kid when you first starred on the show, but how did you originally relate to Malcolm and now how do you relate to him now as an adult and as a dad?
MUNIZ: You know, it’s funny. I’ll say this, my wife and I watched the show for the [first time], she had never seen the show, and we watched it a few years ago. And we got to the end of [the series finale], and she looked at me and she goes, “You weren’t acting at all. You are Malcolm.” And I didn’t know how to take that at first. I kinda realized that so many of the formative years of my life, from 12, 13 to 19, I was filming the show. And if you think about it, even though you’re acting, you still are putting yourself in that world, right? You’re putting yourself through those circumstances and those situations and those emotions. Even though you’re pretending, they’re still coming out of you. And I wonder sometimes if a lot of the similarities of me and Malcolm are because that’s what I did for so long. Without giving the secret to being an actor away, it is kinda true, you’re taking on all this emotion and stuff of a certain character and circumstances. And I spent more time with Hal, Lois, Reese, Dewey, and all that that I did with my family, so I think there is a little bit to say there. So, as a kid, the writing was amazing. I just kind of came in, I said the words. Not discrediting what I did as an actor, but it’s kind of the truth. I didn’t have to put too much thought into it. I just knew who Malcolm was and did it. Now as an adult, obviously getting to revisit the character, knowing how much people love the show and appreciate the show and love the characters, you have kind of a different mindset going in, and I genuinely wanted to give this my best, if that makes sense. I had such an amazing time getting to be Malcolm again, and it really did feel like I slipped right back into it. I felt right at home almost immediately, and I’m really proud of what we made. I just hope people enjoy it when they watch it.
DEADLINE: Well, it is a very satisfying reunion of sorts. I know you’ve mentioned before that you had some memory loss during the original show. Did being back with your on-screen family and the creator kind of jog any of those memories?
MUNIZ: It did. I mean, even walking onto the set for the first time, it was surreal, because so many things do kind of flood your memory, so many on-camera, off-camera things, moments, stories that we were telling each other and all that. But a lot of the memory thing, I was just doing some interviews with Bryan and Jane, and they were saying the same thing. They’ll sometimes turn on episodes and they go like, “I don’t remember filming that at all. How do I not remember that? I don’t even know what’s gonna happen.” And I equate a lot of it to the same thing I was just saying; even though you’re acting, my whole life was pretending to be in someone else’s situation or someone else’s emotion, and one minute I’m filming a super happy, funny scene, and the next minute I’m screaming at my parents, or I’m sad or I’m crying or I’m angry or whatever. And as a kid, especially, you get so used to experiencing something or doing it and then, they say “cut” and you’re done filming that scene and you forget it. You kinda go like, “OK, done with that. Onto the next emotion. What’s next?” And I almost feel like I took that on in my life in general. I’ve experienced so many insane things and done so much in such a short time, but I kind of do the thing or do the experience, and as soon as we’re done, I forget it. I kind of just push it to the side and go on to the next thing. So, a lot of the times, I don’t remember a lot of the things I did, and it’s not for any reason other than the fact that my brain is just completely full of experience and doing things. And like I said, as an actor, pretending and then forgetting, and there’s good and bad of it, but unfortunately, I think I’ve taken that on in my day-to-day life as well. It’s just kind of that “onto the next,” whatever my next focus is or next race or next project or whatever it is, type of thing.
DEADLINE: I love that you have pursued this other passion of racing over the years, and I know that you’ve still sporadically been acting over the years as well, but has returning to Malcolm reignited a love for acting? Do you think you’ll be juggling more of that?
MUNIZ: 100%. I mean, I would love to be an actor. I think I tweeted this right after we had wrapped the revival, as well. Acting has always been something I did, but I also used to play soccer and football and basketball, and I’m a golfer and I’m a race car driver, and I own an olive oil company. It was just one of the many things I did. But when I finished filming this, I had such a good time, and I loved it so much and it made me feel really, really proud every day on set. It was the first time that I was really happy to have the title of actor next to my name. I really accepted it. I was like, “Yes, I am an actor.” I always kind of felt like an outsider a little bit, and I would definitely love to jump back into that world. Obviously right now, I’m pursuing racing full-time, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that when I dive into something, I go 100%. I don’t have hobbies, I wanna be the best race car driver I can be. I have an opportunity in front of me, and I wanna try to go out and win all the races and make Ford and all my sponsors super proud, and myself proud. But definitely, if had an opportunity to go back into the acting world, I wouldn’t hesitate. I would love to be there. But it’s not up to me, so we’ll see what happens.
DEADLINE: Well, I grew up watching your movies. Is there any other character you’d potentially revisit?
MUNIZ: I mean, obviously, as an actor, you’re always excited to play new characters as well. But I’m not gonna lie, I would love to play an adult version of Agent Cody Banks, more like in an adult genre version of it. I just think it’d be fun to, once a character or once a kid has saved the world twice, gotten the girl, done all the things, how do you live up to that? You were 16 when you did all that. How do you surpass that? And I think it’d be fun to see maybe the downfalls of that. But maybe James Bond is really busy one day, so they call Cody Banks, like, “Wait, I get the chance again. You’re calling me?” He’s all dad bod-ed out. I just think it’d be fun to see a comedy of that, but there’s no talks of it, just putting it out into the universe.
DEADLINE: Yeah, I think that can make a fun meta R-rated comedy, definitely.
MUNIZ: Exactly, right? I think so. Because if Agent Cody Banks is now 30 years old plus, it’d be perfect.
DEADLINE: Yeah, and Big Fat Liar, that was another favorite. When I moved to LA, I think my first frame of reference was that prop house scene. That was the dream.
MUNIZ: Yes, we did film that—not like the prop scene where the Grinch suit was and all that—but we filmed all the rest of that in the Universal lot, so a lot of where we were in that room where we’re putting on different clothes and was skateboarding and stuff, that was actually the prop house and the wardrobe house. That’s on Universal, so pretty close to accurate. But you know, not 100%.