Frankie Muniz knows the surrealist well. After all, he was a teen idol.
“I mean, really, my whole life, when I think about it [on] that, I did so many amazing things at a young age. People think, they always say, ‘Oh, are you sad you couldn’t go to prom?'” Muniz, now 36, told Yahoo Entertainment. “I was at the Emmys and the Golden Globes and I’ve traveled all over the world and hang out at the Playboy Mansion. Almost to the point where I look back, and I’m like, ‘Was that real?'”
So, no, he wasn’t mad that he missed the ball. He was the star of a hit TV show, Malcolm in the middleat the age of 14. In her late teens, Muniz also acted in films such as Agent Cody Bankswith Hilary Duff — he was Banks — and Huge liaralongside Amanda Bynes.
“I remember the first time I was recognized. Malcolm hadn’t even been created yet, but all the billboards were all over New York,” Muniz says. That’s where my family lived, and I used to ride the subway, and all these people were looking at me… I didn’t understand that, like, maybe they saw previews or whatever. that is. And people started coming to me even before the show premiered, ‘You’re gonna be on this show.’ And it was honestly, like, the most amazing feeling ever.”
Muniz ended up playing in seven seasons of Malcolmand he has continued to act since his end in 2006, appearing on shows such as Last man standing, harley quinn and The recruitas well as films, including extreme movie and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. He has also ventured into driving professional race cars and plans to drive full time for NASCAR next year.
But first he tried his hand at reality television, joining the cast of the next season of surreal life. The animated show originally aired for six seasons, from 2003 to 2006, and it spawned countless spinoffs, from My beautiful Brady at strange lovefeaturing former cast members Flavor Flav and Brigitte Nielsen, and all of its incarnations, including flavor of love and Rock of love.
Muniz was cautious, as he had seen the original series filled with drama, but was told that the new iteration was more “a positive, funny and intriguing type show”. And he thought that would be a challenge.
“I was a little afraid of [the craziness of the original]and I didn’t know what to expect in terms of who your roommates would be, because they don’t tell you until you walk home,” he says. “But there was something about getting out of my comfort zone, you know, to kind of have life experiences that I wouldn’t normally put myself in.”
Muniz and the rest of the cast – August Alsina, the musician who had an “entanglement” with Jada Pinkett Smith; singer and reality star Tamar Braxton; To live alone actress and comedian Kim Coles; porn star Stormy Daniels, who has long alleged an affair with Donald Trump; makeup artist and YouTuber Manny MUA; former WWE star CJ Perry (aka Lana); and former NBA star Dennis Rodman – who really needs no description – filmed the revamped version of the show last year.
“I’m so glad I did [it], because I feel like I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about the other people in the house that I didn’t expect. And I have to do some pretty cool stuff,” Muniz says. “Now there was definitely some drama and all of that is just part of eight big personalities coming together in a house in Mexico City. But it was both an incredible, incredible experience and also one of the craziest things I’ve ever done, for sure.”
At this point, in the trailer, Muniz says, “We’ve all seen Dennis Rodman’s dong.”
One of the first challenges for the actor was that he didn’t know how he would handle being a roommate, as he had never been one.
“I tried to be easy going,” he says. “There was enough drama that I didn’t try to throw more into the fire…At the same time, I didn’t back down when I needed to defend myself. And there were definitely some times when I needed it. We all have But I think the cool thing about the show is that every conflict was really resolved.”
And these conflicts appeared early.
“It was, I will say, immediately, a little dramatic with the roommate situation, but me, Kim Coles and Manny MUA, we had, for some reason, this bond. An instant bond,” Muniz reveals. “And I’m so glad I had them through this experience, because we kind of really kept ourselves – our room, at least – sane. So when things were going well, it was great. When things were bad, we had each other. It was a good thing. We’re still friends to this day, that’s for sure.
surreal life premieres with two back-to-back episodes Monday, Oct. 24 at 9 p.m. on VH1.
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