8 months ago
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Frankie Muniz is now 38 years old, which I find kinda wild. I’ve always thought he was like 10 years younger than me, not two. Gah, now I’m having a moment! Anyway, Frankie’s got a pretty large nest egg and never has to work again, but he’s currently living it up as a NASCAR driver. He’s also appeared in a couple of celebrity-based reality TV shows. Frankie is probably one of the rare lucky child star success stories. He’s not been without drama, but he is now happily married with a three-year-old son, Mauz. While doing press for the Australian version of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here, he shared that he would never let Mauz go into showbiz.
Frankie Muniz, once one of the most popular child stars, does not want his own kid following in his footsteps. Speaking before he entered the jungle set of Australia’s I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here reality show, the star of FOX’s hit early aughts sitcom Malcolm in the Middle explained why isn’t keen on the idea of his son Mauz, 3, pursuing acting.
“I would never let my kid go into the business,” the 38-year-old told Australian outlet PEDESTRIAN.TV in a video released March 24. “And not that I had a negative experience, because to be honest, my experience was 100 percent positive. But I know so many people, friends that were close to me, that had such insanely negative experiences.”
The former child star, who shares his son with wife Paige, continued, “And I just think it’s an ugly world in general. I never cared about rejection, but there’s a ton of rejection.”
Muniz, who still works as an actor and is also a NASCAR driver, made his comments days after Investigation Discovery released its docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which detailed alleged inappropriate behavior on the sets of several Nickelodeon shows in the ’90s and aughts. It features interviews with a few former child and teen actors who appeared on the programs.
Muniz is not one of them. The actor has, however, worked on Nickelodeon shows in the past—he voiced a character on the animated series The Fairly OddParents, and hosted the 2000 Kids’ Choice Awards and two episodes of All That.
It’s really refreshing to hear that Frankie had such a positive experience. I’d like to think that any set that Bryan Cranston is a major part of is going to be professional. But it also sounds like Frankie knows that he’s one of the lucky ones. He’s seen a lot in his life and knows that just because his experience as a child star was good, most kids did not have it the same as he did. That said, is anyone watching the Quiet on Set documentary series? I know that what was going on with those Nickelodeon sets has been talked about for years, but my goodness, what they went through was awful. I don’t blame Frankie for wanting to protect his son.
Photos via Instagram and credit Getty
