{"id":46679,"date":"2025-09-24T16:03:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T20:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=46679"},"modified":"2025-09-24T16:03:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T20:03:01","slug":"former-malcolm-in-the-middle-star-is-focusing-on-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/09\/former-malcolm-in-the-middle-star-is-focusing-on-jesus.html","title":{"rendered":"Former ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ Star is Focusing on Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Grindstone Media Group \/ Shutterstock.com | Inset: @frankiemuniz \/ X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At 39 years old, Frankie Muniz has quite the impressive resume. He began his start as a child actor in Hollywood, and spent seven seasons portraying the beloved, wise-cracking Malcom in the hit show \u201cMalcolm in the Middle.\u201d After the show ended, Muniz has since gone on to become a professional racecar driver for NASCAR. He has also returned to acting for a 4-episode revival series of \u201cMalcom,\u201d featuring much of the original cast. Filming for the show wrapped in May, with the show set to air on Disney+.<\/p>\n

Despite the impressive career, however, there is one think Muniz is particularly proud of, according to a recent X post<\/a>. \u201cHappy Sunday!\u201d wrote Muniz. \u201cI am proud to say I live for Jesus Christ. Who\u2019s with me?\u201d The post received over two million views and 95,000 likes. Fellow Hollywood Christian and former child actor Candace Cameron Bure of \u201cFull House\u201d responded to Muniz\u2019s comment, writing<\/a>, \u201cLet\u2019s GO!!! Praise God.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is unclear exactly how long or when Muniz became a Christian, but he acknowledged his faith in another post in January. Muniz posted a clip<\/a> of himself listening to worship music, contrasted with him pulled over as by a police officer. \u201cHilarious contrast of feeling good praising God, to being p-sed off in the matter of minutes,\u201d he wrote. \u201cAll part of his plan so you have to trust the good and the bad. I was going through old photos and videos on my phone and I found these from 5 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muniz has spoken about staying away from drugs and alcohol, something that many child actors often fall into. \u201cI’m 38. I’ve still never had a sip of alcohol, I’ve never done drugs, I’ve never done anything,\u201d he told Mayim Bialik<\/a>, another former child star, on her show. Muniz said the decision was partly due to how busy his life had been at such a young age. \u201cWhen I was 15, 16 years old, I felt like I was so old. Like I had experienced so much. But even though I was in the entertainment business, I never saw it — meaning the drug use, any of that stuff. I somehow just stayed away. I went to the set and did my thing.” As he grew older, he said he didn\u2019t find a need for it. \u201cIn my mind … I felt like I had made it so long without it that I was kind of like, ‘Well, I’m not going to start now…'”<\/p>\n

Muniz has not addressed how his faith deals with the fact that the new \u201cMalcolm\u201d reboot will feature a non-binary character. In April it was confirmed<\/a> that the character of \u201cKelly,\u201d Malcolm\u2019s youngest sibling whom his mother was pregnant with at the series finale, will be non-binary and will be played by non-binary actress Vaughan Murrae, who uses \u201cthey\/them\u201d pronouns. It\u2019s a move that has some long-time fans worried about the series being \u201cwoke.\u201d \u201cIt is a trip on a tightrope the writers don\u2019t have to \u2014 and shouldn\u2019t \u2014 take. Fans want writers to respect the memory of the show because if they get this wrong, the reruns are instantly garbage,\u201d wrote Beth Brelje for The Federalist. <\/em>\u201cEvery old episode will be a reminder of how we liked the show until Disney ruined it. That\u2019s all it takes, Disney. If you leave a bad taste in viewers\u2019 mouths that shows up when they are making viewing decisions with the remote in hand, that bad feeling goes away with the press of a button to another channel.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 39 years old, Frankie Muniz has quite the impressive resume. He began his start as a child actor in Hollywood, and spent seven seasons portraying the beloved, wise-cracking Malcom in the hit show \u201cMalcolm in the Middle.\u201d After the show ended, Muniz has since gone on to become a professional racecar driver for NASCAR.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":46682,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer 'Malcolm in the Middle' Star is Focusing on Jesus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Frankie Muniz, actor-turned-NASCAR driver, declares \u201cI live for Jesus Christ\u201d as he returns for Disney+\u2019s Malcolm in the Middle revival.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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