Professional racecar driver and former child star Frankie Muniz reveals that he would not let his son begin acting at a young age due to the “ugly world” of child stardom.
Muniz is best known for starring as the titular character in the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. The show ran for seven seasons and reached high critical acclaim, kickstarting Muniz’s acting career. He would go on to star in movies such as Big Fat Liar and Agent Cody Banks and even nabbed a few voice acting gigs on The Fairly OddParents and Moville Mysteries. However, aside from guest appearances and cameos, he has largely left the acting industry behind and built a career as a professional racecar driver. Muniz’s Malcolm in the Middle co-stars Justin Berfield and Erik Per Sullivan, who played his characters’ brothers, also left the industry shortly after the show’s conclusion and have largely stayed out of the spotlight since.
It’s not unusual for child actors to leave the industry behind as adults to explore other interests or experience a more typical lifestyle. However, recently, the child acting industry has come under much scrutiny. Heartbreaking stories have arisen from actors like Jake Lloyd, Macaulay Culkin, Wil Wheaton, and Jennette McCurdy of how the industry exploited them, helped their abusive parents exploit them, or led to a devastating torrent of public scrutiny and backlash.
Recently, the docuseries Quiet on Set further exposed abuse in the industry, especially on networks like Nickelodeon, which built its success on child actors. The stories, documentaries, and lawsuits have reignited scrutiny of the industry and are bound to make some parents reconsider supporting their child’s acting career.
Frankie Muniz wouldn’t let his son become a child actor
Muniz shares a three-year-old son with his wife, Paige Price. While children of celebrities have far fewer barriers to entry to Hollywood and stardom than the average child, Muniz said in a recent interview that he would not allow his son to pursue an acting career at a young age. He stated plainly, “I would never let my child go into the business,” explaining that he knows so many people in Hollywood “that had such insanely negative experiences” as child actors.
Muniz went on to say that the whole child acting business is just an “ugly world in general,” starting with being subjected to a high level of rejection at a young age—especially since getting chosen in Hollywood always reflects talent. Instead, he describes child acting as “winning the lottery,” alleging that some casting choices are simply made because a child looks like they “could be the kids of the parents they picked.”
Muniz’s perspective on his son’s potential acting is interesting, as he admits that he had a good experience as a child actor. He goes as far as to call his experience “100% positive.” However, just the risk that his child could be one of those people who has an extremely negative experience makes him wary of letting his son into that world. Additionally, he’s correct that, even aside from the high risk of abuse and exploitation, Hollywood is largely about luck and what a person looks like over their actual skill and work ethic. Of course, for children who can’t be expected to understand all the nuances of Hollywood, the rejection could be crushing.
It’s encouraging to know that even those who had positive experiences in Hollywood are still listening to and acknowledging the stories of those who didn’t. It’s also comforting to know that parents are taking the risks of Hollywood seriously. Oftentimes, the children in Hollywood who had the worst experiences were those who never wanted to be in the industry at all and had parents who pushed them into it or parents who failed to protect them from exploitation.
A generation of parents who are aware and cautious of Hollywood and who refrain from fostering ideas of stardom in their child could be very beneficial in lessening the damages of the child-acting industry.
(featured image: James Gilbert / Getty)
