“I’m doing it for a show, I’m doing it for the producers, I’m doing it for the other actors — but I’m doing it for him,” the actor said of his son
Credit: Disney/Stephanie Augello
NEED TO KNOW
- Frankie Muniz, who is reprising his role as the titular character in Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, hopes the revival will make his 5-year-old son, Mauz, proud of him
- “I don’t know if it’s weird to show your kid stuff that you did, but obviously I’m proud of it,” the actor told PEOPLE
- Frankie and his wife, Paige, welcomed Mauz in 2021
Frankie Muniz is having a full-circle moment amid the Malcolm in the Middle revival.
Frankie, 40, has nothing but “love” for his son, Mauz, as he gushed about the 5-year-old while speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at the New York City premiere of Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair on Tuesday, April 7.
“I know it kind of sounds cliche to say, but what you think is important in life, the things that you really focus on, to me, until you have a kid … and so many people say that: You have no idea," Frankie explained. "Even being on set and my son being there, I want to make him proud. I’m doing it for a show, I’m doing it for the producers, I’m doing it for the other actors — but I’m doing it for him.”
He added, “This is a weird kind of perspective that I have on everything. I love having him here."
Credit: ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty
Frankie, who is reprising his role as Malcolm in the new sequel series, was 13 when the show started filming and 14 when the series began airing in 2000. It ran for seven seasons until 2006.
Fans who watched the chaotic family — which includes Hal (Bryan Cranston), Lois (Jane Kaczmarek), Francis (Christopher Masterson) and Reese (Justin Berfield) — will now see what antics they get up to in the four-part revival, as Malcolm tries to shield his daughter Leah (Keeley Karsten) from their typical craziness.
Frankie added that he is still "proud" of his breakthrough role, and he feels joyful about getting to include his son now in all things Malcolm in the Middle.
"I don’t know if it’s weird to show your kid stuff that you did, but obviously I’m proud of it," Frankie told PEOPLE. "But I love that he got to experience being a part of it. I’ll always have the photos of my family in front of some Malcolm in the Middle stuff because they weren’t obviously around when the show was on 20 years ago. So really, really cool moment."
Credit: Disney/David Bukach
Frankie and his wife, Paige, welcomed Mauz in March 2021.
“My wife and I watched the show for the [first time], she had never seen the show, and we watched it a few years ago,” he recently told Deadline. “And we got to the end of [the series finale], and she looked at me and she goes, ‘You weren’t acting at all. You are Malcolm.’ And I didn’t know how to take that at first.”
Credit: Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty
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Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair features all of the show's original cast members, except for Erik Per Sullivan, who played younger brother Dewey.
His character is now an adult played by Caleb Ellsworth-Clark.
Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair is out now on Hulu and Disney+.
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