"Yeah, but being retired with $40,000,000.00 at 19 has not been awful. Good luck moving out of your moms house before you're 35."
— Muniz on being told his acting was awful by a random Twitter troll
Francisco "Frankie" James Muniz IV (born December 5, 1985 in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey) is an American actor, racecar driver and musician. He is best known for playing the lead character in the hit Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle as well as in Big Fat Liar and the Agent Cody Banks movies.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was one of the most bankable and well-known child/teen actors in Hollywood. He chose to distance himself from acting to pursue a career as a professional racecar driver and later as a drummer (he is currently the drummer of the indie rock band Kingsfoil), although he has continued to appear in several TV shows as a guest star (most notably in Criminal Minds).
Filmography:
- What the Deaf Man Heard (1997) as Young Sammy
- Spin City (1998) as Derek Evans
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1999) as Angelo
- Malcolm in the Middle (2000-06) as Malcolm
- My Dog Skip (2000) as Willie Morris
- 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue (2000) as Domino (voice)
- The Fairly OddParents! (2001-02, 2005) as Chester McBadbat (voice)
- The Simpsons (2001) as Thelonius (voice)
- Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) as Boy Bear Cub (voice)
- Big Fat Liar (2002) as Jason Shepherd
- Lizzie McGuire (2002) as himself
- Titus (2002) as Nick Galenti
- The Nightmare Room (2002) as Mike
- Fillmore! (2002) as Augie, Willie, Tony (voice)
- Moville Mysteries (2002-03) as Mosley "Mo" Moville (voice)
- Agent Cody Banks (2003) as Cody Banks
- Racing Stripes (2005) as Stripes (voice)
- Stay Alive (2006) as Swink
- Choose Your Own Adventure: The Abominable Snowman (2006) as Benjamin North
- Criminal Minds (2007) as Jonny McHale
- Walk Hard (2007) as Buddy Holly
- Last Man Standing (2012) as Richard
- Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 (2012) as himself
- The Mysteries of Laura (2015) as himself
- Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (2015) as Lucas Stevens
- Preacher (2017) as himself
- Harley Quinn (2019) as himself (voice)
- The Rookie (2021) as Corey Harris
Tropes Associated with Frankie Muniz:
- As Himself: He has played himself several times in different TV shows and at least one film.
- Celebrity Resemblance: To Casey Affleck, say some.
- Former Child Star: Averted. After reaching success as a child/teen actor, he went on to become a racecar driver and then a musician, is married to his longtime sweetheart, and overall seems to be doing pretty well for himself.
- I Am Not Spock: He will always be Malcolm to his fans.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Due to suffering the TIA mentioned below, Frankie has forgotten certain events in his life. Contrary to popular belief, though, he did not forget filming Malcolm in the Middle.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: For some reason there are plenty of YouTube videos claiming he's dead. He did have a TIA ("mini stroke") just before his 27th birthday, but he quickly recovered.
- While not quite "death", there is a persistent rumor that he sustained brain damage and cannot remember shooting any of his earlier roles, which is not true.
- Older Than They Look: Has always looked a good few years younger than his actual age. It helped when he landed the role of Malcolm, who was originally supposed to be 9 years old but was aged up slightly because the casting directors loved Muniz's performance so much.
- The Teetotaler: He does not partake in drugs or alcohol, and to further prove that, he has a "Zero Tolerance" tattoo.
