Frankie Muniz on quitting Hollywood ‘at the height of his career’ — and his ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ comeback

Frankie Muniz is coming home to Hollywood.

Muniz was one of the most popular and beloved child actors on television thanks to his starring role in the Fox sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle” 20 years ago. But after the series ended in 2006, Muniz quit acting to become a professional race car driver.

Now, the 39-year-old is returning to his roots for the upcoming “Malcolm in the Middle” revival series, giving him a new perspective about the life-changing career decision he made back in the day.

“It was in 2006 originally. ‘Malcolm’ had just ended. I was really kind of at the height of my career,” Muniz exclusively told The Post while promoting his partnership with Autotrader and the Fasterclass campaign. “I had tons of movie offers and options, and I got this opportunity to race cars professionally.”

“I had only acted since I was eight. So eight to 22. It’s all I knew,” Muniz continued. “I loved it — but I also knew that I wanted to try something else. So when I had that opportunity, I remember telling my agents and managers at the time, I was like, ‘I really don’t care what comes in, I don’t care what the offfers are. I really want to focus on this. I want to try it.’ Because I feel like if I don’t give it 100% and then I stop, I’ll always regret not really giving it a shot.”

But does Muniz think he made the right decision in choosing racing over acting?

“I don’t know for sure. I don’t know where I’d be if I stayed in the entertainment world,” he admitted. “But I know that I’m exactly where I want to be now.”

“I look back at the the good decisions I made and what may have been bad decisions that I made or whatever it may be, and I can say, it got me here, which is a really good place mentally,” the “Agent Cody Banks” star added. “I love being a race car driver, but also, after getting to film the ‘Malcolm’ reboot, l really love being an actor as well.”

“But it took kind of stepping away to realize that I have a greater appreciation for everything in life,” Muniz acknowledged. “Like getting the opportunity to be Malcolm again, or another acting show or movie or whatever comes up, I’m excited for that opportunity.”

Muniz, as a full-time race car driver, made his NASCAR debut in 2023. In August, he broke his wrist after falling from a ladder and had to miss several races. He returned to the track in October.

The former child star has dabbled back into acting in the last few years, appearing in episodes of “The Rookie,” “New Amsterdam” and “Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens.” He also starred in the 2025 sci-fi film “Renner” alongside Marcia Gay Harden.

“Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair,” the four-episode revival premiering in 2026 on Disney+, will see Muniz reprise his role as the trouble-making titular character. Other returning cast members include Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston as Malcolm’s parents and Christopher Masterson and Justin Berfield as Malcolm’s brothers.

“I was nervous,” Muniz told The Post of revisiting the role that made him famous two decades later. “But I cannot explain to you how quick it felt like home. Like immediate.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but my wife and I watched all the ‘Malcolm’ episodes in 2017,'” he revealed. “I’d never seen them. I’d seen a few here and there, and she had never seen the show. It was on Netflix or something at the time and we watched all 151 episodes, and at the very end of it, she turned to me and she goes, ‘You weren’t acting at all. You are Malcolm.'”

“I was like, ‘No, I’m not. I don’t complain that much!'” the dad said with a laugh. “So I realized on set that not that I am Malcolm, or Malcolm is me, but I was so comfortable being that character and just going through those emotions and stuff. I loved it. I didn’t want it to end.”

While the entire cast hadn’t been together since the series ended, it felt like “no time had passed” once they reunited, he noted.

“Justin, who plays Reece, he’s been out of the acting world for years. But he was right in back into the character,” Muniz shared with The Post. “Obviously Bryan Cranston is Bryan Cranston — probably one of the greatest actors ever. Jane. Everybody just fell right back into it.”

“It’s rare that you get another chance at something, right?” Muniz continued. “Also to be 20 years later and know the impact that the show had on people all around the world. You go into it with a greater appreciation, but also know that people are really going to love it. Normally when you make a movie or TV show, you don’t know if people are going to like it or if it’s going to be good. So I think we made a show that people are going to love.”

The revival isn’t a complete cast reunion, though. Erik Per Sullivan, who played Malcolm’s brother, Dewey, quit acting over a decade ago and hasn’t looked back since.

“We started talking about doing the reboot over ten years ago,” said Muniz. “And then Bryan Cranston really kind of took the lead in pushing it. But early on, we sent out an email, me and Bryan, to everybody kind of saying like, ‘Hey, if this happened, would you guys be interested?’ Just to gauge. And we knew early on that Erik was not going to be apart of it.”

“He’s very happy in the life that he’s created outside of the entertainment world,” Muniz explained. “And he made the decision that he didn’t want to get back into it — which we completely respect. We didn’t want to force him to do something he didn’t want to do. We had his blessing from day one to have the role be in the show and recast it.”

“So I hope people aren’t too upset that he didn’t come back,” the “Big Fat Liar” star added, “but it was by his choice.”

On the flip side, getting the chance to work with Cranston, 69, again was a dream come true for Muniz.

“When people always ask who’s my favorite actor I worked with, I always say Bryan,” Muniz said. “He always gives it 110%. It doesn’t matter if he’s off camera. He is committed to doing the best job humanly possible, which I think is an amazing attribute in anything that you do.”

“He was also just so nice and genuine and kind to everybody on set,” he continued about the “Breaking Bad” icon. “The cast, the crew, the extras. It didn’t matter. I always looked at that as like it inspired me to kind of be the same. I want people to work with me and think similarly of what I think of him.”

“For someone to have success like he’s had post-‘Malcolm,’ it couldn’t have happened to someone better,” Muniz told The Post. “There’s a lot of people who aren’t the greatest people in that business that somehow keep working. But he’s one that deserves it.”