Although Frankie Muniz became a household name with Malcolm in the Middle, it wasn’t always so great on the set of the Fox sitcom. The actor starred as the titular character on the series, which lasted seven seasons from 2000 to 2006, but he actually nearly stopped doing the show altogether. He opened up about his experience on the hit series while competing on Australia’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here and admitted why he stormed off set.
Via News.com.au, Muniz shared that there are two episodes he’s not in, as he “walked off the set.” He had a very good reason for doing so, however, revealing that it simply came from a place of standing up for himself. “Everyone was so afraid to stand up when certain people were controlling or rude or disrespectful,” the former child actor shared. “Like they walked on pins and needles.”
“I was so mortified by seeing people afraid to stand up for themselves, I was like, Say something,'” Muniz continued. “I didn’t care if they told me I was never going back, because it was worth it to me. It helped that the show was based around me.” While it doesn’t seem he went into detail about what exactly happened on set, he clearly didn’t stand for it and was willing to risk his job for it, even despite being the lead.
According to EW, fans online pointed out that although Frankie Muniz appears in archive footage in the Season 4 episode, “Clip Show #2,” he does not appear in any new footage in the episode. Fans may have to rewatch the entire series, notably Season 4, to see if they can manage to spot the other episode that he was not in. It can be assumed Muniz wasn’t on set for two consistent episodes, but it’s also possible he walked off set two separate times. A rewatch on Hulu will surely answer that question.
Meanwhile, as Muniz recalls his time on the sitcom, Bryan Cranston has been working on a script for a possible reunion. If a revival or reboot of some kind happens for Malcolm in the Middle, hopefully “certain people” will not be around and the environment is a lot better. It’s definitely disappointing to know the reason behind Muniz not being in every episode of Malcolm in the Middle, but at least it was for a good reason.