Frankie's ALL GROWN UP -He's Not Your Childhood Malcolm

Frankie Muniz has made a career of subverting expectations, avoiding the child star curse and becoming a successful race car driver and family man. Amid his acting return in the upcoming Malcolm in the Middle reboot, Muniz reflects on his past and shares his hopes for his future

- ANDREA SIMPSON & JAIME HARKIN

Frankie Muniz wasn't just a child star — he was one of the child stars of the early aughts. At 13, he became the brainy, wisecracking Malcolm in Malcolm in the Middle, a role that earned him Golden Globe and Emmy nods and turned him into one of the most recognizable faces on TV. By 15, he'd bought his first house. By 17, he was on red carpets and in L.A. clubs with Paris Hilton and the Hollywood It Crowd — though Muniz tells Us he was always the designated driver. “I felt like I'd lived 80 years already,” he recalls, “because I just did so much.”

Then, at the height of his fame, he did something no one expected: he walked away. Ready to try something new after years of nonstop work in front of the camera (“Between ages 8 and 21, I maybe had 60 days off,” he says), the actor traded scripts for speed, reinventing himself as a professional race car driver and later a touring musician. “I’m so lucky taking that step back happened, because it made me appreciate everything more,” he admits. “It allowed me to do other things and realize a lot more about myself.”

Now, just months from turning 40, Muniz bears little resemblance to the dorky middle child we watched navigate the pitfalls of high school and contend with his chaotic family every Sunday night for seven years. He’s a husband to model turned photographer Paige Muniz (who shot his Us Weekly cover story!), dad to 4-year-old son Mauz and a (hot!) full-time racer — while gearing up for a nostalgic return in Disney+'s long-awaited Malcolm in the Middle reboot. “I'm racing and I’m focused on it,” he says, “but I hope Malcolm comes out and people want to see me as an actor again, because I would love to go back in that world.”

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