BURBANK, CA − It’s not just you.Frankie Munizalso can’t believe he’s 40.
"I ride a Peloton, and now it says 'Frankie Muniz, 40s.' I'm like, 'Whoa bro, my mom's 40,' " Muniz tells USA TODAY. "She's not; she's 70, but in my head, I think that."
The character he’s best known for playing, Malcolm, is similarly not immune to the sands of time. Twenty years after we left him on the hit Fox series "Malcolm in the Middle," the smart-alecky, exasperated teen from the aughts is still just as embarrassed by his zany family inthe show's new Hulu revival, "Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair" (all four episodes streaming April 10).
Muniz points out that he is not far from Bryan Cranston's age when the now 70-year-old started playing Malcolm's dad, Hal, in 2000.
"It's pretty wild when you think that because I remember thinking he's so old, you know?" Muniz confesses. "I'm not that old!"
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The show's creator, Linwood Boomer, told USA TODAY that he wasn't able to reel Sullivan (seen here in 2007) back in despite his best efforts; the former actor is now working toward his master's degree at Harvard University. "Eric Sullivan hasn't been an actor for decades. I asked him to repeat [Dewey]. We still talk all the time. I love him, and he didn't want to be an actor anymore," Boomer says. "He didn't like [acting] 10 years ago, and he sure doesn't now. I had to respect that."
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The show's creator, Linwood Boomer, told USA TODAY that he wasn't able to reel Sullivan (seen here in 2007) back in despite his best efforts; the former actor is now working toward his master's degree at Harvard University. "Eric Sullivan hasn't been an actor for decades. I asked him to repeat [Dewey]. We still talk all the time. I love him, and he didn't want to be an actor anymore," Boomer says. "He didn't like [acting] 10 years ago, and he sure doesn't now. I had to respect that."
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Cranston is the only costar Muniz has kept close contact with over the decades, an accomplishment he solidly credits to the "Breaking Bad" actor. Muniz admits his New Year’s resolution every year is "better communication, but that never works."
Nearly the entire original cast, which includes Jane Kaczmarek as matriarch Lois, Christopher Masterson as eldest brother Francis and Justin Berfield as second child Reese, came back for the reboot.
And when the "Malcolm" familyreunited on the Canadian setlast year, it was "as if no time had passed." He adds, "You could have told me that it was a week after we wrapped in 2006."
Fans who have kept tabs on Muniz over the years might have some skepticism about the actor's recollections of the "Malcolm" days; much has made aboutthe actor allegedly suffering memory loss from brain injuries. He has since clarified that he's fuzzy on the details because he was working nonstop "in that time frame," booking roles in 2000's "My Dog Skip," 2002's "Big Fat Liar" and the "Agent Cody Banks" movies.
"I equate it to if I asked you about going to high school and I was like, 'What did you do in February of your sophomore year?' You'd be like, 'I don't know,' " Muniz explains. "But you'd remember highs, lows, stuff like that. And I have a lot of that, obviously, with the show."
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The "Life's Still Unfair" team, which includes original series creator Linwood Boomer, sat the cast down in the impeccable replication of Malcolm's family's living room and jogged their memories by showing clips from throughout the seven seasons and more than 150 episodes.
"I was surprised by how [many] of us were like, 'I don't remember that at all,'" Muniz says. Just being back in this room – where he and Berfield passed a football between doorways and a drunk Malcolm threw up into a turkey – "brought back so many memories of the seven years I spent in that house."
The memories are almost entirely from filming, as Muniz admits he hasn't watched the series in its entirety: "I watched Season 1 and just got so busy."
Frankie Muniz's son can be 'a mix' of all the 'Malcolm in the Middle' children
Muniz's son, Mauz, similarly has not seen "Malcolm in the Middle." That might be in part why the 5-year-old primarily considers his father's profession to be race car driver (Muniz drives in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series). But for "Life's Still Unfair," in which Mauz has a brief cameo, Muniz's son had the opportunity to see his dad doing a job that doesn't require so much protective gear.
Playing a parent onscreen for the first time, Muniz found some parallels between his character and his real life as a father of one. Just like the reboot's Malcolm, a single father who frets over daughter Leah (Keeley Karsten) and is intent on being the exact opposite of his parents Lois and Hal, Muniz is "constantly questioning [if I'm] doing it right."
"I want my son to just like me. We have a good relationship, but I want him to not be spoiled and I want him to listen," Muniz says. "He's pretty good, 90% of the time."
"Angel" Mauz is usually "perfect, really unbelievably smart, very articulate, [and has a] fun little personality," Muniz gushes. But that other 10%? Mauz can be a "mix of all the 'Malcolm' kids. Just crazy."
"Maybe he needs to go to military school like Francis," Muniz jokes.
Reality TV drama "The Hills," starring Whitney Port, Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge and Lauren Conrad, first aired on MTV in May 2006. The show followed Conrad to Los Angeles after her graduation from "Laguna Beach."
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Reality TV drama "The Hills," starring Whitney Port, Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge and Lauren Conrad, first aired on MTV in May 2006. The show followed Conrad to Los Angeles after her graduation from "Laguna Beach."
But he tries to not dwell on whether he's the perfect dad because "Malcolm and his family, sure, they struggled, but they really cared about each other."
"Malcolm turned out all right in the end, so the parenting, I guess, worked," Muniz says.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Frankie Muniz found Bryan Cranston 'so old' in 'Malcolm in the Middle'
