Bryan Cranston may have been Frankie Muniz’s dad on Malcolm in the Middle, but their relationship transcends more than just TV.
“I talk to Bryan Cranston a fair amount,” Muniz, 38, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting his #NotInTheMiddle partnership with Spirit Airlines. “He’s always been like a father figure to me since the show ended and always kind of checked in on what I was doing, where I was. If I was in a band, he came to the show. If I’m racing now, he comes to the races or checks in and watches on TV, tells me how he’s watching.”
Muniz gushed that his relationship with Cranston has “always been amazing,” adding that he hoped to reconnect with more of his former costars in the future.
“We’ve all actually been communicating a little bit lately. It’s almost the 20 year anniversary since the show ended and it’s crazy to think that it’s been that long,” he told Us. “I’m almost the age that Bryan Cranston and Jane Kaczmarek were when Malcolm started, when they were our parents. It’s a weird thought. We all have families of our own, we have kids now ourselves. We want to get the gang together for sure and I think it’d be fun just to kind of catch back up.”
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Airing from 2000 to 2006, Malcolm in the Middle centered around middle child Malcolm Wilkerson (Muniz) and the ups and downs he faced in his dysfunctional family life. Hal Wilkerson (Cranston) and Lois Wilkerson (Kaczmarek) starred as the parents of Malcolm and siblings Francis Wilkerson (Christopher Masterson), Reese Wilkerson (Justin Berfield) and Dewey Wilkerson (Erik Per Sullivan).
In the nearly 20 years since Malcolm in the Middle came to an end, fans have been begging for a revival to see what the Wilkerson family is up to now. Muniz, for his part, revealed to Us that he’s interested in reprising his role from the Fox series.
“There’s definitely been talk about it,” he teased. “I know that it’s not up to me for it to happen, but I would definitely love it. We’ll see what happens for sure.”
While Malcolm in the Middle was airing in the early 2000s, Muniz admitted that he “didn’t watch” the show at the time because of limitations surrounding streaming TV. Years later, Muniz and his wife, Paige, sat down to watch the show — and he gained a newfound appreciation for the series.
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“I watched it with my wife because she had never seen the show, and I don’t know, it made me so grateful,” he told Us. “The show was something completely different than I thought we were making, as weird as that sounds. But it made me go, ‘Man, I have to know what Malcolm and his family are up to now,’ because the possibilities are really endless.”
For Muniz, it’s hard to predict what Malcolm’s life today would look like. “The last episode, his parents and everyone tell him that he can’t take this million dollar starting salary job straight out of high school because he’s got to suffer, and he’s got to do this and he’s going to do this because he’s going to be President of the United States,” Muniz noted. “That’s a lot of pressure to put on a kid. Do I think that he’s there? No.”
Muniz explained that he thinks Malcolm “always felt like the world was out to get him or against him” and could be “still stuck in that negative mindset.”
“Who knows what it could be, but it could be anything,” Muniz told Us. “I just want to know. I need a definitive answer. We need to know.”
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Even if the show never returns, Muniz will always hold a special place in his heart for Malcolm in the Middle. “It’s one of the greatest things that could have ever happened to me,” he said. “I’m so lucky to have been a part of something that people love all these years later.”
When he’s not reminiscing on his Malcolm in the Middle days, Muniz can be found racking up miles on Spirit Airlines and promoting his #NotInTheMiddle campaign. Rather than being stuck in the middle, Muniz can enjoy some extra elbow room with a guaranteed blocked middle seat as part of the new Go Comfy travel option — as well as one checked and one carry-on bag, priority boarding, snack and non-alcoholic beverage.
With this campaign, one thing is for certain: Malcolm would have been the recipient of a better travel experience with his family members.
“I think I know what seat he would probably be stuck with,” Muniz quipped to Us of Malcolm, “but if he’s flying on Spirit Go Comfy he doesn’t have to worry about it.”
