“Malcolm in the Middle” actor Frankie Muniz said that even though he had a good experience as a child star, he still doesn’t want his son to enter the profession.
“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,” the 38-year-old star said in an interview clip with the Australian outlet Pedestrian, which was shared on TikTok.
“I think it’s an ugly world in general,” Muniz added. “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.”
“Me getting into ‘Malcolm in the Middle,’ maybe that was a little different than other shows, but as a child actor, you get picked because you could be the kid of the parents they picked,” he said. “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,” Muniz went on. “It’s not like going into a different industry where you can work really hard and get into it.”
The former child star has been married to Paige Price since 2020. They share a 3-year-old son, Mauz.
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Muniz is best known for playing the lead role in the popular Fox sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle” (2000–2006), which earned him an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award nominations. He also appeared in other popular shows and broke into the movie business, appearing in “Deuces Wild” (2002), “Big Fat Liar” (2002), “Agent Cody Banks” (2003), and “Racing Stripes” (2005).
The actor’s comments come just after the release of the new documentary, “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.” The bombshell series included several former child stars making allegations of sexual misconduct and other toxic workplace behavior from employees at Nickelodeon in the 1990s and 2000s.