Frankie Muniz on Why He’d Never Let His Son Become a Child Actor

Frankie Muniz is opening up about his experience as a child actor and why he would “never” let his son follow in his footsteps.

The actor-turned-NASCAR driver told Pedestrian TV in an interview shared on TikTok Sunday that he wouldn’t let his son Mauz, who’s currently 3 years old, start working as an actor at a young age because “it’s an ugly world in general.”

“I would never let my kid go into the business,” Muniz said. “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.”

“I just think it’s an ugly world in general,” he added. “I never cared about rejection, but there’s a ton of rejection.”

Muniz, who shares his son with wife Paige Price, rose to fame as a child for his role as Malcolm in the Emmy-winning series Malcolm in the Middle. The show ran for seven seasons from 2000 to 2006. He also starred in dozens of other movies, including Agent Cody Banks, Big Fat Liar and Stay Alive.

Though he has appeared in some TV shows in recent years, his focus has now turned to his NASCAR aspirations. But looking back at his time in Hollywood at a young age, Muniz compared becoming a successful actor to “winning the lottery.”

“In the beginning that’s all it is,” he said. “You know, me getting Malcolm in the Middle, maybe that was a little different than other shows, but like as a child actor, you get picked because you look like you could be the kid of the parents they picked.”

Muniz continued, “I think people think that it’s an easy thing to break into, but you know, I like to be honest about it and say like, there’s a million people in Hollywood who try who won’t even — maybe they’re amazing actors. They could be the best actors on the planet, but they don’t even get the opportunity. So it’s not like going into a different industry where you can work really hard, you break into it, you know, you can keep going and kind of work your way up the ladder. It’s really a lot of luck that plays into it.”

Earlier this year, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Muniz teamed up with NEO Studios to produce an all-access docuseries that will chronicle his lifelong dream of NASCAR racing.