20th Century Studios/Hulu
Frankie Muniz is clearing up the viral stories that have swirled around his severe memory loss ahead of the return to his most famous role in Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair.
The new revival show follows an adult Malcolm who has separated himself from his family due to being embarrassed by their chaotic antics. He has a girlfriend and a daughter that he’s desperate to keep away from his parents, Hal (Bryan Cranston) and Lois (Jane Kaczmarek), and his brothers Reese (Justin Berfield) and Francis (Christopher Masterson).
As for Dewey, Erik Per Sullivan turned down “buckets” of money to return for the new show, and Caleb Ellsworth-Clark has taken over the role instead.
But while promoting Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, star Frankie Muniz took the opportunity to clear up the stories from a few years ago which claimed he has severe memory loss.
Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz doesn’t actually have memory loss
Zach Catanzareti
In 2019, Muniz told People that he has “no recollection” of things he did when he was younger, including time on the original show. But he recently appeared on the Inside of You podcast ahead of the Malcolm in the Middle revival and provided more context about old stories surrounding his memory.
“Just to bring up the memory thing a little bit, almost to clear the air. The story of that was taken out of context in a sense. I have – not memory issues – I have a bad memory,” Muniz told host Michael Rosenbaum.
“This is now years of trying to figure out why I don’t absorb so many things. Well, since I was eight years old, I have been non-stop doing things, flying here and doing that and just crazy cool things.”
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He continued by explaining that he’s been acting his whole life and is so used to pretending to be characters for moments at a time before moving on.
“They say ‘cut’ when you’re done with the scene and you forget about it. You never think about it again, and then you go on to the next emotion or the next day or the next character,” Muniz said. “And I almost feel like some of it has to do with the fact that I’m so used to just going, ‘Done with that,’ and moving on that I don’t even recall. I don’t even take it in.”
The star pointed out that most people can’t remember singular days of school from when they were younger either, and that’s how it is for him with Malcolm in the Middle – which he started filming age 13.
“I’ll watch episodes and I’ll be like, ‘Whoa, I don’t remember that episode. I don’t remember what happens.’ So weird. Like, I should remember that, right? And I equate it to this, too: when you were in high school, in February of your sophomore year of high school, on the third week, what did you do? No clue.
“Nobody would know. But you remember certain things that happened in high school, like certain good things, bad things or highlights or whatever. That’s my memory of Malcolm.”
While we wait to see how Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair plays out, you can discover our most anticipated TV shows of 2026.
