Frankie Muniz (Malcolm) SpeedFreaks Interview [Video]

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Frankie Muniz (Malcolm) was on SpeedFreaks on ESPN2 last Thursday (July 19). He did a interview about racing in the Champ Car Atlantic. I think it was filmed a month or so ago.

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Yeah, that was supposed to be my job to record and that didn't work out so well. Sorry about that TJ. I'm glad you got it.

Apart from the fact that Malcolm is a great show, I find Frankie himself amusing for some reason every time he opens his mouth. I'm not sure what it is because I find most in hollywood to be annoying, arrogant, vapid and unlikeable. Just becuse they are famous they think they are better then the rest of us. I was already a fan of Malcolm but I think I'm actually a bigger fan of Frankie because he made a real choice that Hollowood is silly and he makes fun of it. That is so much cooler then someone who is desperate to do whatever they can to stay in the hollywood scene as they are burnt out.

This isnt even anything new for him if you go back a couple years to when he was on the VH1 real estate show you can see a poster in his house that says "All the stars in Hollywood look that same" with a picture of a pig. He clearly has rebelled against the celebrity culture even if he was involved with it at one time. This is why the recent TMZ post was just plain silly - they got the entire basis of his personality wrong. He often puts out a false bravado. There are lots of examples of that, including some that make the silly TMZ story about hair and a tatoo seem mild.(do better research lazy paparazzi, I know more interesting stuff then them!) but in so far as he portrays any kind of "bad dude" image it is a paper thin layer that is gone when you simply talk to him. He even jokes at his own expense.

He shouldn't diss Paul Newman...he blazed a legitimate trail and I think it would be universally agreed Newman is a better driver then Frankie to this point so he should be careful there. He seems to be improving, but at a very slow pace compared to what he said he wanted to do there. At this point he seems fine with not winning anything but it will be interesting to see what happens in the future. It isnt easy to get in the top level, famous or not. What do you do at 25 when you retired from acting and retired from racing? My guess is go back to acting for hell of it.

I thank you for beginning a discussion in this thread. I must disagree that Frankie has consciously rebelled against celebrity society. Rather, he's rebelling against society in general, like any other young person. Like he says, it's every kid's dream to be a race car driver; he had the opportunity to pursue that dream, so he did. He has ambitions like anyone else and he doesn't care what it takes to get there; he's not afraid to bash down other people for person advancement and in this case the group of people to be bashed is Hollywood, or that celebrity society.

yardgames said:

I must disagree that Frankie has consciously rebelled against celebrity society. Rather, he's rebelling against society in general, like any other young person.

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That is pretty much the point of what TMZ was saying. He is a classic "rebel" against society in order to shed the child actor image because he is desperate to been seen as an adult. Hes a bad ass, hes cool, he has tatoos, and mohawk, hes a punk ect ect. This is a total cliche that his underlying motivation is to not been seen as a child star anymore so he could presumably get adult roles.

I totally disagree that is actually what is happening. It isn't the impression he gives off at all (I also saw him in person). He hasn't rebelled against society in order to shed the child actor. He has rebelled against "Hollywood Culture" to do something totally different. He has money and fame but he is just using that as a stepping stone to do what he wants to do he isn't obsessed with his own celebrity status.

He is a good actor so could the whole racing thing be an act just for the purpose of shedding the child actor status as the interviewer just asked him here? If you actually attend a race you will see it is totally implausible that this is some kind of an act to shed the child star status. It actually takes a ton of commitment it is not as if he just flies around the country and plops in the drivers seat at the last minute when the race starts. If the interviewer actually attended the racing rather then just interview Frankie and ignore the other 30 drivers as he just said, then I doubt he would have had the cohones to ask Frankie that question.

thats my opinion I come to it for a variety of reasons:

-Frankie himself just denied that in this clip and in every interview he gives
-He is a good actor and has said he actually likes working but he seems to have rejected the shallowness of Hollywood. He said he prefers a merit based racing trophy to a totally subjective acting award.
- he works more like a hard working person now not a privliged hollywood star. He could have been the male Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton if he really wanted to.
- he rejects drugs and alchohol and wild partying (he does now after partying a few years ago with Hilton ect)

Frankly I'm stunned the paparazzi never picked up on his anti-Hollwood attitude. I guess that doesnt fit thier agenda. They go with the story that he is desperately rebelling to do whatever he can to fit in in Hollwood and break the child star mold. As a paparazzi hit job TMZ didn't even do a good job - using his hair and a tatoo - these slogans could have been twisted to make it seem like he is an arrogant SOB if you don't realize they are jokes. Look at a few of the various signs, slogans and T-shirts of Frankie that I can remeber. He seems to have this kind of stuff all the time. Either A he is the biggest arrogant jerk who is full of himself or B he actually consideres the shallowness of Hollywood to be a joke:

"All the stars in hollywood look the same" = PIG
"local celebrity"
"Kiss me I'm Loaded!"
"F@!& me im FAMOUS!"

I'm not trying to psychoanalyze Frankie here, but I think it is cool that he is an actor who rejects the shallowness and jokes and makes fun of it. That is one of the primary reasons I like him. And I think he's right most guys are jealous of him getting to be a race car driver.

Ok, I'm shocked no one commented on this since we had about a 180 degree difference of opinion of what is going on with Frankie. I think I made the case pretty well based on some actual facts that he is so totally NOT obsessed with his celebrity image that he actually makes fun of it.

im not commenting, since i have the same view of Frankie now as i did when he was on MITM, he just is my least favorite character on that show :sad: (ironic since it is a show about him)

I haven't commented because I was out of town. I see where you're coming from with that view of Frankie but I don't think he's intelligent enough to actually be rebelling against society. I don't mean that in a rude or belittling sort of way, but Frankie's always been a little big ignorant to what's going on around him. At least that's the impression that I've got. He goes on with his life and does what he wants in an effort to best further himself. And that's not a bad thing, I mean that's what most people do. It's just more noticeable in Frankie because he is a celebrity, whether he wants to be or not. If he really did know what was going on around him, he'd be aware of his reputation and his status and he would do more about it.

yardgames said:

If he really did know what was going on around him, he'd be aware of his reputation and his status and he would do more about it.

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How can you say he isnt aware of it with those examples of him making fun of celebrity culture and saying he doesn't want to be a part of it? Even before he started racing didn't he basically abandon L.A. celebrity culture and live with his girlfriend in New Orleans? You have to go back like 3 years to find actual L.A. paparazzi crazy young Hollywood tabloid type stories about him. I mean in one of these recent interviews he said he told his Hollywood agent not to call him and hadnt talked in 6 months. I'm not sure what more evidence there can be that he is aware of the situation and in control of it.

I really lump your comments right in with the TMZ article in that you both don't get that he has rejected the celebrity culture. He is still rich and famous and can do whatever he wants with his life but that is very different then going with the flow of the crazy Hollywood scene. He was absolutley right in the middle of some of the biggest names in the tabloids and he walked away from it.

But he walked away from it not as a testament to his disagreement with the culture but because he was unhappy being a child actor and couldn't find any adult roles. So he decided to pursue a boyhood dream instead.

You are giving a preconceived opinion but your outlook on the situation isn't supported by facts. It is exactly the same cliche that he is a child star now desperate to get roles.

-he disappeared out of the tabloids and seemed to express an anti-Hollywood sentiment long before Malcolm ended

-no time passed between when Malcolm ended and when he got into racing. (In fact I'm looking at the dates and he raced literally within 1 week on the
calendar of when "Graduation" aired)

-it is well known that he was interested in cars long before he actually started racing (Punked, Fast and Furious, Celebrity race)

-he had a non-Hollywood fiance after dating actresses

-the racing schedule means he is not even in California half the time, his race team is located in Canada.

-Despite that he has "left" Hollywood he still has more movies coming out then any of the other Malcolm cast even if they are still in Hollywood full time.

-he is undeniably happy with what he is doing (that one is perhaps an opinion not a fact but it is obvious to anyone who sees him, he is most annoyed when people talk about acting and excited when they talk about racing)

The idea he is doing drastic things with his life out of desperation of not finding roles he likes doesn't follow at all from these facts. To come to your conclusion you have to believe he is lying every time he opens his mouth and that his life the last couple years, as publicly known, is pretty much fake. You have to believe that when he wears shirts saying things like "Keep it real/fake" or the various others sarcastic stuff I mentioned above that he is actually an arrogant bastard and not joking. Even if you for some reason aren't a fan of Frankie I still don't see how you can come to those conclusions if you know anything about him? That a moderator on a Malcolm fan site comes to these conclusions is especially perplexing because the facts just aren't on your side.

I respect your opinion and to be honest I have to bow to it because I don't think I can successfully argue your points anymore. You win.

Cool! However I fear for Frankie that no matter what the facts or what he does with the rest of his life, public perception will always be against him that he is some kind of punk lame former child actor. Child stars actually do mess up thier lives so often that people just assume it is true.

I'm surprised he went into racing! Then again it does suit him...but I really wish he comes back to the Big Screen or at least TV!:angry:

MalcolmFun said:

You are giving a preconceived opinion but your outlook on the situation isn't supported by facts. It is exactly the same cliche that he is a child star now desperate to get roles.

-he disappeared out of the tabloids and seemed to express an anti-Hollywood sentiment long before Malcolm ended

-no time passed between when Malcolm ended and when he got into racing. (In fact I'm looking at the dates and he raced literally within 1 week on the
calendar of when "Graduation" aired)

-it is well known that he was interested in cars long before he actually started racing (Punked, Fast and Furious, Celebrity race)

-he had a non-Hollywood fiance after dating actresses

-the racing schedule means he is not even in California half the time, his race team is located in Canada.

-Despite that he has "left" Hollywood he still has more movies coming out then any of the other Malcolm cast even if they are still in Hollywood full time.

-he is undeniably happy with what he is doing (that one is perhaps an opinion not a fact but it is obvious to anyone who sees him, he is most annoyed when people talk about acting and excited when they talk about racing)

The idea he is doing drastic things with his life out of desperation of not finding roles he likes doesn't follow at all from these facts. To come to your conclusion you have to believe he is lying every time he opens his mouth and that his life the last couple years, as publicly known, is pretty much fake. You have to believe that when he wears shirts saying things like "Keep it real/fake" or the various others sarcastic stuff I mentioned above that he is actually an arrogant bastard and not joking. Even if you for some reason aren't a fan of Frankie I still don't see how you can come to those conclusions if you know anything about him? That a moderator on a Malcolm fan site comes to these conclusions is especially perplexing because the facts just aren't on your side.

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He had a non- hollywood fiance? he can't be gay!

cur2702 said:

He had a non- hollywood fiance? he can't be gay!

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Whoever said he was gay? I think all indications are he does well in the girlfriend department!

I agree. There was never even a question in my mind suspecting that Frankie was gay, and I have really good "gay-dar".

MalcolmFun said:

Whoever said he was gay?

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We can dream.....:blushing:

I have no clue, my gay-dar got broken once i went to an art college. Really, even if i was gay i would not go out with Frankie. he seems very.... brat-ish :huh:

and well I think Frankie seems very straight (I should know I work in Hollywood and have to take a bus that goes through the heart of West Hollywood :glare, and probably actually straighter then most actors on tv.

Is Justin gay?