Posted in: Fox, TV | Tagged: bryan cranston, fox, Frankie Muniz, jane kaczmarek, malcolm in the middle

Malcolm in the Middle Star Muniz: Bryan Cranston "Really Into" Revival

It's been 16 years since Malcolm in the Middle graced the sitcom airwaves with its seven-season run on Fox from 2000-2006, making household names out of its principal stars in Frankie Muniz, who played the title character, Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston, who played parents Lois and Hal. The series also starred Christopher Masterson, Justin Berfield, and Erik Per Sullivan as Malcolm's brothers, Francis, Reese, and Dewey. The series, which won seven Emmys, came courtesy of creators Linwood Boomer, Michael Glouberman, and Gary Murphy, about a gifted teen surrounded by his dysfunctional family. Following the series, Muniz continued to star in a few projects before stepping away from the limelight and into other ventures. Now with the nostalgia bug hitting everywhere with networks and streamers starving for content, the actor is ready to see if lightning can strike twice with a possible revival with his TV dad penning the script.

"When I was on 'Malcolm,' I was just so excited to be working on a show," Muniz told Fox News. "But also in that same sense, when the show ended, I kind of left the business for a little bit. I started doing other things. I was racing cars. I joined a band. I was touring all over. I opened some businesses, and I got to experience so many amazing things in my life, which now, at this point, has made me able to reflect and look back and be so appreciative of the experience."

The actor experienced burnout on the child star experience. "Now, I have thought about it," Muniz explained. "Because… so many people go down a bad path, whether it's drugs, alcohol – whatever it may be. And I think for a lot of people, it's probably difficult to go from having such success at a young age where you always have people going like, 'Oh, I love you,' and everyone wanting you here and there. And then that starts to fade. And I think a lot of people try to replace the missing feeling of [being] wanted with something else. And that is a negative for a lot of people. Whereas for me, I've always been super focused on what I was currently doing because I wanted to be the best at whatever I was doing. And that's how I am."

Since stepping away from the spotlight in 2006, Muniz shifted his focus to racing while making occasional reality TV appearances while still making close contact with Cranston. "I know Bryan Cranston is really into the idea, and he's kind of heading writing the script and getting everything rolling. So, there might be something. I would be down 100 percent, but I don't know – we'll see what happens," he teased. While Cranston and Kaczmarek remained active, Masterson hasn't appeared in anything since 2019, while Berfield and Per Sullivan have largely retired from the screen with their final appearances in 2010. Cranston did film a parody with Kaczmarek as an alternate ending to Malcolm in the Middle, with Hal dreaming of his life as his other signature role as Walter White from Breaking Bad.

For more on Muniz's life and career, you can check out the interview here.

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