Frankie Muniz was just 12 years old when he made his film debut in the TV movie To Dance With Olivia in 1997, but you probably best know him as the title character in the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, which premiered one month after his 15th birthday.
The show was a huge hit, and Frankie’s performance even earned him an Emmy nomination the following year.
After this breakout role, Frankie had guest appearances on other hit series, such as Lizzie McGuire and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and even landed starring roles in movies like Agent Cody Banks.
But despite this colossal acting success throughout the early ’00s, Frankie revealed that he was wary about his opportunities fading when Malcolm in the Middle ended in 2006 — shortly before his 21st birthday.
Frankie ultimately ended up taking a step back from the limelight and is now a professional race car driver and entrepreneur.
And in a new interview, Frankie has admitted that he would never let his son be a child actor — even though his personal experience of the industry was “100% positive.”
Frankie shares 3-year-old Mauz with his wife, Paige.
The interview with Pedestrian was shared to TikTok just hours before Frankie entered an Australian jungle for a new season of the country’s reality show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
In the clip, he explains, “I would never let my kid go into the business. 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.”
“I think it’s an ugly world in general,” Frankie continues. “I never cared about rejection, but there’s a ton of rejection. I truly say that becoming a successful actor is like winning the lottery because, in the beginning, that’s all 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,” Frankie concludes. “It’s not like going into a different industry where you can work really hard and get into it.”
Frankie’s comments come just one week after Investigation Discovery released its troubling docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which saw several former child stars speak out against the TV network Nickelodeon as they made allegations of inappropriate conduct on set in the ’90s and ’00s.
