Former Child Star Frankie Muniz Reveals Moving From Hollywood to Arizona ‘Saved’ His ‘Life’

Former child star Frankie Muniz says that fleeing Hollywood at the height of his fame saved his life.

“Honestly, I did not like L.A.,” the Malcolm in the Middle alum told US Weekly. “So I moved to Arizona, and I love it. I feel like it saved my life in the sense that I started enjoying the little aspects of life more, like hiking [and] going to the grocery store, because it was easy.

“I didn’t have to fight [to] find a parking spot or pay for valet.”

Muniz — who played the sitcom’s titular character from 2000 to 2006 — says he paid a “high price” for the fame he wound up fleeing, with “maybe 60 days off” from ages 8 to 21 as he toiled in the entertainment industry.

“I remember at 13, 14 years old, when Malcolm was premiering, my mom would wake me up at 5 a.m. and I’d have to do 10 radio interviews and she’d make me sign 50 fan mail autographs, and then we’d go to set and work all [day],” says Muniz.

“You don’t take it in good or bad. You just have to do it.”

But when he moved to Arizona in 2008, he totally changed gears and became a full-time race car driver.

“I was a huge racing fan, but never did it cross my mind that I’d be a race car driver,” he recalls. “That feeling of crossing the finish line first was magical, and I knew in that moment, ‘I want to feel this more.’”

Although he didn’t totally slam the brakes on acting — he reprises his Malcolm role in a limited series reboot coming in December on Disney+ — he says he was happy he could put his “heart and soul” into racing.

“I was also at a point where I was just like, ‘I’m good. I made tons of money, and I could kind of step away if I wanted to.’”