Though it’s been several years since Frankie Muniz said goodbye to his life in Los Angeles and made the choice to pursue a different career, the former child star has no regrets.
After wrapping up the hit sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle” in 2006, Muniz, now 38, took a hiatus from acting to focus on professional race car driving — a decision he tells Fox News Digital exclusively that he’s never looked back on.
“As an actor, like, I’ve been fortunate to do a lot of great things and people tell me, ‘I love your show, or I love this or love that,’ but, you know, it’s all based on opinion,” he said. “I could show up to work as an actor and dedicate my life to the role and feel like I did the best job ever. And then people see it and go, ‘Yeah, it was okay. I didn’t like it.’ Where, as a race car driver, it’s not subjective. It’s in black and white. You either win and you’re the fastest or you’re slow.”
“I was really kind of thrown off the deep end, but that’s how I like to do things,” Muniz added about his career shift. “When I do something, I like to commit fully, right? I mean, people go, ‘What are your hobbies?’ I don’t have hobbies. I want to be the best at whatever it is I do. And if I can’t dedicate the time and effort to do that, I just won’t do it. I don’t want to be mediocre. That’s not fun.”
Muniz, who has recently partnered with Spirit Airlines to promote their new #NotInTheMiddle ‘Go Comfy’ travel option, competed in the Formula BMW USA Championship in 2006 and then raced in the ChampCar Atlantic Championship from 2007 to 2009. In 2009, Muniz was fourth in the championship standings. He had two races to go before a season-ending injury resulted in multiple surgeries. He returned to racing in 2021 and currently competes part-time in various races.
Despite his newfound love of racing, Muniz said he still misses aspects of his former career in acting.
“When ‘Malcolm’ ended in 2006, that was the year that I started racing professionally. And at that time, I was like, ‘I don’t care what it is. I don’t care what offer it is. I don’t care how much money it is, don’t call me. I’m going racing. I want to focus.’ If I’m competing against the best drivers in the world, I’ve got to dedicate my life to that. I think I needed that just to have a greater appreciation now for what I did when I was younger.”
WATCH: FRANKIE MUNIZ GIVES ‘BLACK AND WHITE’ REASON WHY RACE CAR DRIVING IN MORE FULFILLING THAN BEING HOLLYWOOD STAR
“Now when I do projects, I have that mindset of like, really putting my all into it,” he continued. “I just want it to be a positive experience for everybody. I do miss it.”
“I did a movie last year … and that was probably one of the most difficult roles I ever played,” he continued. “But I loved every minute of it. When I was on set, even though I’m still dedicated to racing and that’s my focus right now, it hit me that I went, ‘Wow, I could do this more.’ So we’ll see what happens in the future. But right now, you know, the focus obviously is racing one hundred percent.”
In addition to racing, Muniz has gotten attention for his decision to leave Los Angeles behind – and for his critical comments about the city.
On Sept. 10, Muniz took to social media to share his disdain for the City of Angels, writing, “I landed in Los Angeles 23 minutes ago and I’m already disgusted by this hell hole.”
The tweet, which gained about 150k likes and 14.4 million views, received mixed reactions on social media, with some agreeing with him wholeheartedly and others criticizing his quick-to-judge remark.
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“I just know that I don’t like that city. It’s so great when you have a preconceived image in your head of what it’s going to be,” Muniz told Fox News Digital. “But, literally, I was still at the airport and the airport is not set up easily. They make everything so hard, you know? And I was like, this is what I’m talking about.”
“I said it kind of vaguely,” he added. “I tweeted it. I did it. It kind of went a little viral. And I had a lot of people who agree with me and lot of people who were hating on me for saying I didn’t like Los Angeles.”
Muniz — who currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with wife Paige Price and their 3-year-old son — said he finds it humorous when people take offense to his thoughts on LA because he knows firsthand what it’s like to live and work there.
WATCH: FRANKIE MUNIZ EXPLAINS WHY HE CALLED LA A ‘HELL HOLE’
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“I’ve been fortunate to get to live in a lot of places. So I find it funny that people who might live in Los Angeles, who are offended by my comment,” he said. “I lived there. Like I’m not just guessing. I know what life was like there, and I know what life is like [in Arizona]. And I’m not saying this is better, I’m just saying I don’t like this one.”
“I need space,” he added. “I need the desert. That’s where I’m supposed to be.”
Because he travels all over the country for various races, Muniz said he was “thrilled” to partner with Spirit Airlines, who is giving away 10 pairs of Go Comfy tickets in #NotInTheMiddle social media giveaway.
“With my racing and everything I’m doing lately, I’ve done 529,000 airline miles this year alone,” he said. “I’m basically living in an airport and on an airplane.”
“I don’t think there was a better person to kind of spread that message of the excitement of not having to be stuck in the middle then than me,” Muniz said of the new travel feature, which offers increased comfort and space with a guaranteed blocked middle seat, as well as one checked and one carry-on bag, priority boarding, and a snack and non-alcoholic beverage.
