Actor and race car driver Frankie Muniz revealed that he was not in two episodes of his hit show “Malcolm in the Middle” after he refused to be on set, due to disrespectful and “controlling” production members.
Muniz, 38, shared his story on an episode of “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!” which airs on Australian television. The show features celebrities surviving in the jungle, which is where the actor explained why he wasn’t in two episodes of the Fox series.
“There were two episodes I’m not in. I walked off the set,” Muniz stated, per News.com.au. “Everyone was so afraid to stand up when certain people were controlling or rude or disrespectful. Like they walked on pins and needles,” he continued.
Without specifying who this was in response to, or what their roles were, Muniz said he couldn’t handle the idea that people didn’t want to stand up for themselves.
“I was so mortified by seeing people afraid to stand up for themselves, I was like: ‘Say something.'”
“I didn’t care if they told me I was never going back, because it was worth it to me.”
Muniz also spoke days earlier about not fitting in with Hollywood and hating being in Los Angeles, California.
“I never felt like I fully fit in the Hollywood world, even though I was in the world. I was nominated for Emmys and Golden Globes, and I was going to all this stuff, and I was there, and I was like, ‘How am I here?'” he recalled.
“I hated L.A., so I kind of stayed in my own little world, my own little bubble. And moving to Arizona, I did it on a whim, and I realized immediately that I started looking up. I started enjoying looking at trees and birds in the sky. Going to the grocery store was a fun thing. You don’t get that in L.A. It’s a miserable experience.”
In a recent interview with Access Hollywood, Muniz expressed that he wanted to keep his children out of Hollywood. Despite saying he had a positive experience, he explained that he knew a number of people who had “insanely negative” experiences.
That, coupled with the constant rejection of acting that at times feels like a “lottery,” Muniz stated there was a lot of “luck” that goes into the industry, unlike other professions.
At the same time his Australian adventure is airing, Muniz is being showcased in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the second-highest tier of stock car racing in the country.
“I know that moving up to Xfinity is a big leap for me, given my limited experience in stock cars,” Muniz told NASCAR. “I understand the challenges ahead and know it will not always be easy,” he added.
Muniz debuted at the Daytona International Speedway, but his complete schedule has yet to be released by the organization.
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Frankie muniz, Nascar, Xfinity series, Los angeles, Hollywood, News