Frankie Muniz Almost Skipped His “Malcolm in the Middle ”Audition, Worried About Being Late to His Pizza Hut Commercial Shoot
Frankie Muniz Almost Skipped His “Malcolm in the Middle ”Audition, Worried About Being Late to His Pizza Hut Commercial Shoot
Angela AndaloroThu, April 2, 2026 at 4:36 PM UTC
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Frankie Muniz in 2023 (left) and in 2000 as MalcolmCredit: Gabe Ginsberg/Getty; 20th Century Fox /Courtesy Everett of Collection -
Frankie Muniz is looking back at his Malcolm in the Middle audition as he prepares for the release of the reboot series
Malcolm in the Middle ran for seven seasons on Fox from 2000 to 2006
Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair begins streaming April 10 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers in the U.S. and on Disney+ internationally
Frankie Muniz had other things on his mind during his Malcolm in the Middle audition.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight ahead of Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, Muniz recalled auditioning for the original series on a busy day.
"I had to be maybe 12 or 13. I was supposed to film a Pizza Hut commercial the day of my Malcolm audition. I think we were supposed to start at like 10:00 a.m. and my Malcolm audition was at 9:30," he shared.
"I was like, 'Mom, there's no way we're gonna make it. We can't do it.' Like the pizza commercial, that's my big break. There's like 19 other kids there, but I'm going to be in this commercial. I need to go."
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Laughing, he continued, "I end up going in. The casting director comes in. I said it as quickly and like as angrily as I could, because I just wanted to get it over with."
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"Then, if you think about it, that's exactly who Malcolm was," Muniz points out, noting he'd never realized the similarities between him and the character until he rewatched the series with his wife, Paige.
"I watched all the episodes, probably in 2017. It was the first time I'd seen most of the episodes. My wife and I sat down and watched it. And she looked at me, and she goes, 'You weren't acting at all.' "
He admitted, "I was like, 'I don't know how to take that,' because Malcolm was a little neurotic. And then I realized doing the reboot, she's right."
Malcolm in the Middle ran for seven seasons on Fox from 2000 to 2006.
The revival show sees the return of Bryan Cranston as Hal, Jane Kaczmarek as Lois, Chris Kennedy Masterson as Francis, Justin Berfield as Reese and Emy Coligado as Piama.
New additions to the cast include Keeley Karsten as Malcolm’s daughter Leah, Vaughan Murrae as Malcolm’s youngest sibling Kelly, Kiana Madeira as Malcolm’s girlfriend Tristan, and Caleb Ellsworth-Clark as Dewey. Erik Per Sullivan previously played Dewey on the original series.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
