{"id":46708,"date":"2026-04-10T13:21:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T13:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=46708"},"modified":"2026-04-10T13:21:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T13:21:41","slug":"frankie-muniz-details-his-surreal-return-to-hollywood-for-malcolm-in-the-middle-revival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=46708","title":{"rendered":"Frankie Muniz details his &#8216;surreal&#8217; return to Hollywood for &#8216;Malcolm in the Middle&#8217; revival"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The prodigal son returns.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Frankie Muniz made an unexpected return to Hollywood to film the \u201cMalcolm in the Middle\u201d revival series, and the former child star exclusively told Page Six that the experience has been \u201csurreal.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI left the acting world just because I wanted to pursue [car] racing back in 2006,\u201d Muniz, now 40, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cI left the acting world\u201d to pursue car racing,\u201d Frankie Muniz (pictured April 3 in Rockingham, North Carolina) told Page Six. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Muniz (pictured with his wife, Paige, and son, Mauz, at the \u201cMalcom in the Middle: Life\u2019s Still Unfair\u201d premiere on Tuesday) said he lives a \u201cnormal\u201d life. <span class=\"credit\">Lev Radin\/Zuma \/ SplashNews.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After rising to fame on the Fox sitcom and movies like 2003\u2019s\u00a0\u201cAgent Cody Banks,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2024\/11\/09\/entertainment\/frankie-muniz-involved-in-nascar-crash-during-race-in-phoenix\/\">professional NASCAR driver <\/a>moved to Arizona, where he now lives with his wife, Paige, and their <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2021\/03\/25\/frankie-munizs-wife-paige-price-gives-birth-to-baby-boy\/\">4-year-old son, Mauz.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>There, he enjoys \u201csmall things\u201d and goes \u201cmountain biking.\u201d\u00a0Muniz also told us that moving away from Hollywood gave him \u201cmore appreciation for life in general.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Though, he told Page Six that he \u201cloved\u201d returning to Hollywood to film Hulu\u2019s new miniseries \u201cMalcolm in the Middle: Life\u2019s Still Unfair\u201d and felt \u201creally proud to be an actor\u201d during his time on set.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The original sitcom aired from 2000 to 2006, and it followed the dysfunctional antics of Malcolm (Muniz) and his family, including dad Hal (Bryan Cranston), mom Lois (Jane Kaczmarek), and\u00a0brothers Francis (Christopher Masterson), Reese (Justin Berfield), Dewey (<a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/04\/05\/entertainment\/malcolm-in-the-middle-erik-per-sullivan-rejected-buckets-of-money-pay-to-return-for-disney-reboot\/\">played by Erik Per Sullivan <\/a>in the original show, and Caleb Ellsworth-Clark in the revival) and Jamie (played by twins James and Lukas Rodriguez\u00a0in the original show, and Anthony Timpano in \u201cUnfair\u201d).\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Muniz (pitured in \u201cMalcolm in the Middle: Life\u2019s Still Unfair\u201d) said returning to Hollywood was \u201csurreal.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">Disney<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Muniz (pictured in \u201cMalcolm in the Middle\u201d with the cast) reunited with his castmates for the revival miniseries.  <span class=\"credit\">\u00a920thCentFox\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The revival follows an adult Malcolm and his daughter (Keeley Karsten) as he reconnects with his parents for their 40th wedding anniversary.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the years since the original show ended, Muniz kept in touch with Cranston the most, he told Page Six.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMostly because he\u2019s just an incredible person who reaches out [even] in all his crazy success and fame that he\u2019s had post \u2018Malcolm.\u2019 He\u2019s always just been kind of like a father figure to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Muniz said that the \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d star, \u201cchecks in every once in a while, and we have dinners and stuff like that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Muniz (pictured with Bryan Cranston and Jane Kaczmarek in \u201cMalcolm in the Middle: Life\u2019s Still Unfair\u201d) said Cranston has always been \u201ca father figure to me.\u201d <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Erik Per Sullivan (pictured in \u201cMalcom in the Middle\u201d with Cranston, Kaczmarek, Justin Berfield, Emy Coligado and Christopher Masterson) didn\u2019t return for the new series. <span class=\"credit\">\u00a920thCentFox\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"single__inline-module inline-module inline-module--newsletter aligncenter inline-module--nypostbusinessunit aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-newsletter\" data-source-unit=\"Inline Newsletter Module Page Six Daily\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__title-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__unsubmitted-title-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWant more celebrity and pop culture news?\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with Page Six Daily.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He wasn\u2019t in contact with other cast members as much over the years, \u201cbut it was really amazing <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2025\/10\/24\/photos\/frankie-muniz-reunites-with-his-malcolm-in-the-middle-brothers-and-more-star-snaps\/\">to get to reconnect <\/a>with everybody,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cBig Fat Liar\u201d actor compared the cast relationships to \u201csummer camp,\u201d where \u201cyou meet amazing friends and think, \u2018We\u2019re going to be best friends,\u201d but after going home, you just slowly lose touch. Not that that friendship has gone away. It\u2019s just that life takes over. And then you realize, \u2018Holy crap, it\u2019s been 20 years!\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>One person the cast didn\u2019t get to reconnect with was Per Sullivan, who stepped away from acting to attend Harvard. While discussing his absence from the revival, Muniz said, \u201cTo be honest, I have not talked to Erik. I think maybe the last time [we spoke] was ten years ago. He\u2019s just really focused on his schooling. He likes the fact that he got away from the limelight.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Muniz (pictured with Cranston in \u201cMalcom in the Middle\u201d) said he and the \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d actor got dinner together every so often. <span class=\"credit\">\u00a920thCentFox\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Muniz (pictured in \u201cMalcolm in the Middle: Life\u2019s Still Unfair\u201d) said he\u2019s still focused on car racing, but not saying \u201cno\u201d to acting in future projects.  <span class=\"credit\">Hulu\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Cranston reached out to Per Sullivan, who \u201cgave his blessing\u201d to recast his role, Muniz explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Revisiting the \u201cMalcolm\u201d world two decades later was \u201cincredible,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As for whether returning to acting is a one-off event, Muniz told Page Six, \u201cI\u2019m not saying \u2018no\u2019 to acting, I\u2019d love to continue to be an actor. But, I am pursuing [car] racing full time, it\u2019s my focus right now. At forty years old, I\u2019m one of the oldest drivers, I\u2019ve got limited time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMalcolm In the Middle: Life\u2019s Still Unfair\u201d is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/04\/10\/entertainment\/frankie-muniz-details-his-surreal-return-to-hollywood-for-malcolm-in-the-middle-revival\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The prodigal son returns.\u00a0 Frankie Muniz made an unexpected return to Hollywood to film the \u201cMalcolm in the Middle\u201d revival series, and the former child star&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interests"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}