Frankie Muniz

Francisco "Frankie" Muniz IV (December 5, 1985) ^[1] is an American actor, musician, writer, producer, and racecar driver. He is known primarily as the star of the FOX television family sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. In 2003, he was considered "one of Hollywood's most bankable teens".^[2] In 2008, he put his acting career on hold to pursue an open wheel racing career. He competed in the Atlantic Championship. In 2010, he joined the band "You Hang Up" as the drummer.

Career

Acting

Fox premiered Malcolm in the Middle on January 9, 2000, as a mid-season replacement, and the show was quickly overcome with accolades. The premiere episode was watched by 23 million people^[3] and the second episode by 26 million.^[4] Muniz anchored the show with his narration and central role in many of the series' plots, although he has said that he does not consider himself a comic actor and does not find himself loved.^[5] He was nominated for the Emmy Awards^[6] in 2001,^[7] and was honored with the Hollywood Reporter "Young Star Award" for his work in the series.

Throughout his television career, Muniz made guest appearances on the shows Lizzie McGuire, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and MADtv. His first starring role in a feature film was as Willie Morris in the 2000 family period piece My Dog Skip, released around the same time as the pilot for Malcolm In The Middle. That same year, he played the voice of Domino in the 2000 video game 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue. He was featured on the video game Stargate Worlds.

The following year, he contributed a voice to the animal cast of the film Dr. Dolittle 2. He had a hit with the 2002 release Big Fat Liar, which teamed him with teen actress Amanda Bynes as a pair of students seeking revenge on a sleazy movie producer (played by Paul Giamatti). Muniz was also part of the ensemble for the gang film Deuces Wild, released that same year. In 2003, he made a cameo appearance as Cher's underage boyfriend in Stuck on You. That same year, he appeared in the series premiere of Ashton Kutcher's MTV practical joke series Punk'd. Also, he actually voiced Mr. Jumbo in Make Way for Noddy.

Muniz subsequently played the title role in the film Agent Cody Banks, as well as its sequel, Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London. The first film opened in March 2003, and grossed $47 million; the sequel, which opened a year later, grossed $28 million.^[8] He trained in martial arts for the films, and performed most of his own stunts. He also commented that it was the point in his career where he should "make the transition from child actor to an adult actor or a respectable actor."^[5]

Muniz voiced a racing zebra named Stripes in the 2005 film Racing Stripes. That same year, he made a guest appearance as himself in "Mr. F", an episode of the Fox comedy Arrested Development. In April 2006, he began filming My Sexiest Year, an independent film in which Harvey Keitel played his father.^[9] He announced, during that same month, that he would be taking a break from acting, in order to pursue a career in race car driving, under a full-time two-year deal with Jensen Motorsport in the Formula BMW competition.^[10][11]

Malcolm in the Middle finished its run May 14, 2006. Ten days later, Muniz appeared in the horror movie Stay Alive. He expressed a desire to leave traditional Hollywood film roles behind, saying:

Growing up has never scared me until last year. I started thinking about getting older, being an adult, and it scared me. Hopefully things will work out in my career. If they don't, then it was never meant to be.

—^[12]

Despite his earlier stated intention to take a break from acting, in May 2006, he signed on to star in the R-rated teen-sex comedy Extreme Movie.^[13] The film was originally planned to be released in 2007 by Dimension Films,^[14] but was ultimately released straight to DVD in February 2009.

In late 2007, he made a significant guest appearance in an episode of the popular and critically acclaimed CBS crime drama Criminal Minds. The episode, entitled "True Night", featured Muniz playing a famous comic-book writer who becomes a violent serial killer who preys on a group of local gang-bangers after they force him to watch while they rape and murder his pregnant fiancée. In December 2007, he made a cameo appearance in the movie Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, playing Buddy Holly.

Writing, producing and music

Muniz started writing in 2004, when he wrote the screenplay of the TV show Granted. To date, that is his only screenplay. In 2004, he was the executive producer of Granted. In 2006, he was also executive producer for the movie Choose Your Own Adventure: The Abominable Snowman. A year later (2007), he became the associated producer of the film Choose Connor.

Muniz joined the unsigned band You Hang Up as a drummer. He said, "This is something I have always wanted in my life, and I'm thrilled to be associated with such a great group of guys!"^[15]

Racecar driving

Muniz's career in car racing traces back to 2005, when he won the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race as a celebrity participant. While investigating the possibility of joining a racing team as an owner, he was granted a test in a car, and instead signed a two-year deal with Jensen Motorsport as a driver.

Muniz entered fourteen races during the 2006 Formula BMW USA series, and failed to finish in a point-scoring position. He was selected as one of the thirty–six drivers to compete in the annual Formula BMW World Final, despite his poor performance in the national series. The event, dominated by German Christian Vietoris, saw him make a small impact, as he finished twenty–ninth.^[16]

For 2007, Muniz moved up to the more competitive Champ Car Atlantic Series,^[17] where he competed in the entire season of 12 races. For the season, his best finish was ninth place, and he officially earned a total of 41 points and $17,000 in prize money. By avoiding breakdowns and accidents, he was able to log 351 season laps. This was more race mileage than that of most other drivers, indicating greater endurance and consistency with respect to other drivers of similar performance.^[18]

In January 2007, he placed second at the Sebring Winter National race.^[19]

He signed with Atlantic Championship winning team Pacific Coast Motorsports in January 2008, with a goal to compete consistently in the top ten in the 2008 event "Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda". He finished the 2008 season in eleventh place.

At the end of the 2008 season, he won the Jovy Marcelo Award, an award for sportsmanship voted on by fellow drivers named in memory of the 1991 Atlantic Championship winner who was killed during practice for the 1992 Indianapolis 500.

Personal life

On October 24, 2011, it was reported that Muniz was engaged to his long-time girlfriend, Elycia Marie, owner of Arcadia Vintage. ^[20]

Filmography

Awards

Motorsports career results

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Atlantic Championship

References

External links

• Frankie Muniz at the Internet Movie Database
• YouHangUp.com
• Frankie Muniz Twitter
• Frankie Muniz at Emmys.com