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Topics: Celebrity, TV and Film, Frankie Muniz
Jess Hardiman
Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz has put the record straight after people speculated he was ‘dying’.
Muniz, 37, is best known for his turn as the titular middle child in the popular sitcom, with other acting successes during his youth including Big Fat Liar, My Dog Skip and Agent Cody Banks.
These days, however, he spends less time in front of the camera and more time behind the wheel, having become a professional racecar driver.
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By spending less time in the limelight of TV and film, Muniz has often found himself at the centre of bizarre online rumours, including that he has no memory – and, at one point, that he was ‘dying’.
It stemmed from an appearance on Dancing with the Stars, when he made headlines for saying he had memory issues, even admitting to having no recollection of filming Malcolm in the Middle.
But in a new interview with GQ, he said such speculation had been wildly exaggerated, reassuring fans that he is ‘all good’.
“Even right now, I’ll admit to you that I don’t have the best memory,” he explained.
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“I don’t know how much of that is because I’ve had nine concussions in my life, but I think it’s mostly because since I was eight years old, I’ve never stopped moving - going places, doing so much.
“And as an actor, I would become someone else, say their words, and then forget them the next day. So that’s almost how I operate in my daily life.
“I’m used to being busy, so maybe I don’t absorb everything.
At the time, headlines suggested he had brain injuries and had no memory whatsoever.
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“That I was dying!” Muniz stressed. “As if my wife had to be like in the movie 50 First Dates and remind me who I am every day.”
Setting the record straight that none of it’s actually true, he added: “I’m all good.”
While Muniz is busy driving racecars these days (and being dad to two-year-old son Mauz), he’s still able to find time to do the odd bit of acting here and there – if it fits around the motorsports calendar, of course.
“I actually just got an offer for a movie starting next week, falling right between my Kansas race and Charlotte race,” he said.
“Can I make it work? I want to do both, but my focus is the racing career.
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“If I don’t perform this year, there won’t be a next year, so I want to make sure acting doesn’t interfere with my preparation.
“There’s no one else I’m racing against who is going off to do a movie on their weeks off- they’re all training on the simulator. So, we’ll see.”
Might that ever include a Malcolm in the Middle reboot?
“I’d love it,” Muniz said, but went on: “My one fear about a reboot is that there are so many shows doing them now - including ones that shouldn’t! Some of these shows weren’t even good when they were originally on.”
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He said former co-star Bryan Cranston – who still checks in with him ‘at least monthly’ - is ‘really into the idea’.
“We talked about it just in February. He’s actually helping the writers come up with ideas. Mostly everyone would be on board, so there’s been discussion, but who knows. It’s a decision not necessarily up to us.”