More Time With: Frankie Muniz

Summary

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Teen Beat with Danielle Fishel: “More Time With: Frankie Muniz”

Release Date: April 17, 2026
Host: Danielle Fishel
Guest: Frankie Muniz

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Episode Overview

In this heartfelt and humorous episode of Teen Beat, Danielle Fishel sits down with actor and race car driver Frankie Muniz for a candid discussion about the awkwardness of teenage years, bad haircuts, the wild unpredictability of parenting, and how childhood fame shapes adulthood. The conversation is filled with nostalgia, personal revelations, and parenting anecdotes, offering an intimate glimpse into Frankie’s life after Hollywood success—and the lessons learned along the way.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Teenage Haircut Disasters (03:33–08:24)

• Listener Story: Danielle kicks things off by sharing a listener’s embarrassing homecoming haircut story, which sparks a deeper conversation about adolescent self-expression and style mishaps.

• Frankie’s Experience: Frankie reflects on growing up with professional styling and the struggle to transition to self-grooming after “Malcolm in the Middle.”

  • "Since I was 8 years old, I've always had someone do my hair every single day... I didn't have a place I went to get my hair cut. Like it just happened on set for my whole life.” (05:06–05:19, Frankie)
  • On self-haircuts and impulsive changes: “I looked like a butt with ears with a shaved head. Like it was not good. But I repeated that kind of for 10 years.” (05:38–06:13, Frankie)

• Danielle’s Hair Story: Danielle shares her own post-sitcom hair rebellion and how it backfired:

  • “I decided that what I envisioned for myself was to dye my hair black and for just this front section right here to be bleach blonde... when my hair was in a ponytail, I looked like Pepe Le Pew.” (06:54–08:03, Danielle)

• Both agree that for men, fixing a bad haircut can be as simple as shaving it all off—less so for women.

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2. Parenting & Kids’ Eccentricities (08:29–18:16)

• Kid Haircuts: Danielle and Frankie share the unique challenges of managing their sons’ evolving tastes in haircuts.

  • Danielle’s son wanted to look like John Cena; Frankie’s son links long hair with being a drummer.
  • Frankie: “He said this morning, he's like, no, I want to grow it out... if I grow it out, I could be a drummer.” (09:10–09:19)

• Hands-off Parenting Styles: Frankie admits to letting his son’s hair grow wild, noting, "How he wakes up is how his hair is." (09:53)

• Bond Over Music: Both speculate on their sons’ musical futures. Frankie muses about the lost art of saxophone.

  • “I want to get him into something like... saxophone. I feel like it's like a lost art almost.” (11:19–11:25, Frankie)

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3. Real OCD Awareness (11:25–13:14, Danielle)

• Danielle educates listeners on the realities of obsessive-compulsive disorder, using her husband’s experience to debunk myths and recommend effective therapy (ERP).

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4. Funniest Parenting Moments (16:01–18:14)

• Danielle keeps an email diary for her sons to remember their funniest quotes, sharing one about “smile lines” and “Hulk angry.”

• Frankie beams with fatherly pride and humor about his son's quirks:

  • “Right now he wants to be a poop truck driver... we stay in a bus... and a truck has to come to clean it out. He loves it. He thinks it's the greatest thing ever.” (17:32–18:14, Frankie)

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5. Would Frankie Let His Son Act? (18:16–19:56)

• Frankie is adamant he wouldn’t push his son into acting as a child, despite his own positive experience:

  • “I would not let him be an actor... It's a lot of pressure. It's a lot of rejection, which is hard for people to take... a little bit of winning the lottery.” (18:32–19:46, Frankie)

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6. Parenting Publicly & Child Fame (19:56–22:47)

• Showing Kids Old Work: Neither Frankie nor Danielle’s children are impressed by their parents’ TV success. Danielle recounts her son’s response to “Boy Meets World”:

  • “He watched it for about five minutes and he was like, hey, this is boring. Something else.” (21:05–21:33, Danielle)

• Teaching Boundaries: They discuss challenges teaching boundaries to children in public, with Frankie’s wife concerned about their son’s perception of strangers and fame.

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7. Celebrity Normal vs. Real World (22:48–24:08)

• Both discuss the “unusual life” their families lead, filled with travel, gifts, and experiences, and how to convey normalcy and gratitude to their children.

  • Frankie: “We live a pretty unusual life... He thinks that all this is normal. Like it’s our normal, but it’s— I hope he doesn’t expect it.” (22:48–24:01)

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8. Frankie’s Business Instincts—Wins and Losses (24:08–26:53)

• Parking Garages & Serendipity: Danielle quizzes Frankie about his business sense, particularly buying parking lots as a young adult:

  • “I used to go to every single LA Clippers game... there was a lot of just big open lots... I remember thinking at like 17 or 18... whoever owns this is a genius... So I had purchased a few down there...” (24:32–25:21, Frankie)

• Frankie downplays his instincts, insisting luck played a big role and that he’s had notable business failures, too:

  • “What I’d never, I never get to talk about is I've had a lot of things fail miserably... There's a lot of great, but there's a lot of bad too.” (26:04–26:39, Frankie)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I looked like a butt with ears with a shaved head.”
  — Frankie Muniz, on his self-inflicted bad haircuts (06:01)
• “When my hair was in a ponytail, I looked like Pepe Le Pew.”
  — Danielle Fishel, on her notorious post-sitcom hairstyle (08:03)
• “Right now he wants to be a poop truck driver.”
  — Frankie Muniz, parenting highlight (17:32)
• “I would not let him be an actor... it's a little bit of winning the lottery.”
  — Frankie Muniz, on not pushing his son into showbiz (18:32–19:46)
• “He watched it for about five minutes and he was like, hey, this is boring. Something else.”
  — Danielle Fishel, her son’s reaction to Boy Meets World (21:33)
• “I just kind of act on a whim, to be honest.”
  — Frankie Muniz, on his business ventures (25:42–25:43)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Listener’s Teen Haircut Story: (03:33–05:01)
• Frankie & Danielle’s Hair Mishaps: (05:01–08:24)
• Parenting & Kid Hair Stories: (08:29–10:31)
• Music and Parenting: (10:31–11:25)
• OCD and Therapy PSA: (11:25–13:14)
• Funny Kid Quotes: (16:01–16:45)
• Frankie on Acting & Parenting: (18:16–19:46)
• About Showing Kids TV Past: (19:56–21:33)
• Parenting in Public: (21:33–22:47)
• Gratitude & Celebrity Normal: (22:48–24:08)
• Frankie’s Business Ventures: (24:08–26:53)

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Tone & Style

The episode is conversational, candid, and warm, full of playful banter and self-deprecating humor. Both Danielle and Frankie speak as seasoned survivors of child stardom determined to raise grounded kids.

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Conclusion

This episode is a celebration of the human side of former child stars—a walk down memory lane that’s equal parts funny and sincere, packed with both wisdom and relatable mishaps. Listeners come away with a better understanding of Frankie Muniz both as an actor and as a dad navigating the peculiarities of life after the spotlight.

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For more episodes, follow @teenbeatpod on Instagram and stream “Malcolm in the Middle” on Hulu and Disney.

Transcript

[Danielle Fishel]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human

[Kal Penn]

hey everyone, it's Kalpen. I'm inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with my podcast Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Every episode I nerd out with amazing guests and dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible. It's the book club for your ears. Listen to Irsay, the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc, SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures this

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[Frankie Muniz]

Give me money for cigarettes. I'll never leave your filthy bed. I stay the night and one night we came two or three years the kids are not alright that's okay cuz no one here is

[Danielle Fishel]

Frankie. Every week I ask listeners to send in their own stories of trying to fit in as a teenager, hoping to share vulnerability in what many would call a parasocial transaction. And this week we hear from Brian who was surprised when looking for just a little off the top.

[Brian (Listener)]

Hey everyone. So my awkward teen story is I was getting ready for homecoming and I needed to sharpen up the hair a little bit. So I grabbed some clippers, put the guard on, did kind of the first little bit on the top, took the guard off and did a little bit on the sides and got a little distracted. I think my mom was talking to me or something and when, when she was done, I grabbed the clippers and went straight down the middle and there was no guard and my hair was probably about 3 or 4 inches in length and it just shaved a strip right down the middle of my head and so I had to just shave it all off. And an hour later I went to pick up my date and I think it was okay, but definitely awkward. And definitely to this day I triple quadruple check if the guard is on before I do anything. So yeah, fun times.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh man. Do you have a worst haircut story?

[Frankie Muniz]

I mean I'm the type of person that probably, probably after Malcolm. Okay, let me back up. I realized after Malcolm in the middle that Since I was 8 years old, I've always had someone do my hair every single day.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right?

[Frankie Muniz]

I've always had a hair lady, a hair person. They cut my hair. I didn't have like a, a place I went to get my hair cut. Like it just happened on set for my whole life. So I remember being like, well, I don't know where to go. I'll just start cutting it myself. So kind of similar thing where like you take the, you know, like a three on the side. I can go shorter, two or whatever. The problem is I, I go through these, I was going through these phases, like right after the show ended where I was like, I'm going to grow my hair long. I want my hair to be as long as possible. And I let it go for like four weeks. And it would, you know, not get long, but, but then I'd have the urge where I was like, I have to shave it. Like I have to. And I'd go home and. And I looked like a butt with ears with a shaved head. Like it was not good. But I, I repeated that kind of for 10 years where like I'm like, I need my hair long. But then I just, I'd have like this weird, I don't know how to explain it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Overstimulated. You'd be overstimulated by your own hair.

[Frankie Muniz]

And I just needed it to disappear,

[Danielle Fishel]

get it off of me.

[Frankie Muniz]

And then I regret it and grow it out again and repeat. I don't have a necessarily a bad hair story like that where like I messed up so bad. I wasn't afraid to go to zero. Right. I wasn't afraid to go to no hair.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, okay, that's good. I do feel like for poor Brian, who had 3 to 4 inches of hair on the day of homecoming, to now have a strip in the middle and you're okay. The only thing I can do is shave my head. If I were his date, I'd be like, huh?

[Frankie Muniz]

Why did you do that today?

[Danielle Fishel]

Huh? Today of all days, you just decide to do that today?

[Frankie Muniz]

I guess the follow up question is, was there a second date? That's how you would know if she was okay with it.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's a good point. I need to find that out from Brian. Brian, if you hear this, please let us know. Did you get to go out again after homecoming? When I turned, it must have been. Yeah, it was when I turned 19 because boy meets World was now done shooting. We had stopped shooting in March of 2000 and I turned 19 in May of 2000. I decided after having really no control over my hair for seven years, yeah. I decided that what I envisioned for myself was to dye my hair black and for just this front section right here to be bleach blonde. Why that's what I wanted, I have no idea. But I knew that it's what I had to have. Now my hair is ruined and now I'm just okay. I had to have it. And so I went to a place, a salon I had never been to in Canada, mind you. I. I really didn't know what I was doing in Canada. Went to a hair salon, had them do that to my hair. Only then to realize that when my hair was in a ponytail, I looked like Pepe Le Pew.

[Frankie Muniz]

Oh.

[Danielle Fishel]

Just pulled back into ponytail. One white stripe. My mom was so mortified. She was like, what, what did you do? You do?

[Frankie Muniz]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

And I was like, had to play it off because I didn't want to admit that I had made a terrible mistake. So I was like, I like it, I like it. I don't know what your problem is. I like it. And then I pretty much just immediately changed it.

[Frankie Muniz]

I think it's easier for a guy because you can just like, if you're okay with just shaving your head, it's

[Danielle Fishel]

just get rid of it.

[Frankie Muniz]

Yeah. You're not going to shave your head to fix it?

[Danielle Fishel]

No, I most certainly am not. I also like you. I have a five year old son. You have a five year old son, right? Yes. And he wants awful haircuts all the time. I made the mistake of saying to him, before a haircut once, do you want to look through pictures of what you want? And when I flip them through the pictures, he always picks on something. I'm like, no. Recently he decided he wanted his head shaved because he wanted to look like John Cena. I let him do it because I knew that it would grow back quickly. But am I the only one with this problem? Does your son also want to have a lot of control over his haircuts?

[Frankie Muniz]

You know what's, what's funny is he's always just let us kind of do what we want, right? Like, we just get it cut. But lately his hair has gotten really. Not long. Like, it's not long, but like, it's messy, right? It's. And I'm like, bud, you want, you want a haircut? Because, like, look at this picture. Like, you looked so good, nice. And you know, trimmed up. And he's, he said this morning, he's like, no, I want to grow it out. He's like, because if I grow it out, I could be a drummer. So that's what he said. So he's in this phase of like growing it out and it just looks wild because he has a big head.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, I love, I love this. I love this kid.

[Public Ads / Sponsor Voice]

Yeah.

[Frankie Muniz]

So that, so that's, that's where he's at right now. So we haven't. He's Never really explored. I. I will admit we're bad parents in this, in the sense that, like, we've combed his hair.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, okay.

[Frankie Muniz]

Like, we don't go like, oh, it has to be like this. Like, comb to the side or do this or spiky. How he wakes up is how his hair is. Right. And there's a few times where I've looked at him, and I think we're out, and I'm like, maybe we should. Maybe we should comb his hair. Maybe we should start, like, giving him somewhat of a style to, like, for it to. To be, like, a shape. You know what I mean? Because it's just, like, hair.

[Danielle Fishel]

Just hair everywhere.

[Frankie Muniz]

But he likes it. Yeah, He's. He's in this phase of liking it long, and he wants me to put lots of conditioner in because he thinks it's gonna make it longer and softer and curlier. And he's not wrong. Curly. I'm like, all right, listen, I own

[Danielle Fishel]

a hair care company. I'm gonna send you a leave in conditioner, a detangler, a hair mask, and also some curl bomb. You can, if you want to help him play up the curls. You gotta tell them.

[Frankie Muniz]

I go. I go. I go, you know, daddy didn't have long hair, and Daddy was the drummer. Yeah. He's like, not really.

[Danielle Fishel]

Not. Not for real dad. No. Does he play any instruments? Is he in classes?

[Frankie Muniz]

We haven't. No. I mean, he. We have a piano that he likes to, like, play on, but he doesn't, like, necessarily play it, but I think he'll. He'll probably end up doing that. I. Like I said I was a drummer. I have drums, but, like, stored away. I think he'd be into that, but I don't know if. I don't know how my mom and, like, my grandparents dealt with me being a drummer, like, growing up, because it's just so loud. But I want to get him into something like. Like saxophone or something.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Frankie Muniz]

I don't know. Like, just. It kind of. I feel like it's like a lost art almost. You know what I mean? But I feel like that'd be. That'd be kind of cool.

[Danielle Fishel]

That would be cool. I know most people are surprised to learn what OCD really is, because pop culture has spread the idea that it's just about being super neat and organized, but that's not accurate at all. My husband has ocd, and I can tell you it is so much more than that. Real OCD is a serious condition where you get unwanted, distressing thoughts called intrusive thoughts. They're stuck on repeat in your mind, often focusing on people or things we care about like relationships, identity or character, making them hard to ignore. And then you feel driven to do certain behaviors called compulsions to try to make the anxiety stop. This obsession and undying desire to make it go away can completely derail you for decades. Jensen ruined his own life and the happiness of those around him purely because he couldn't make the repeated worry go away. But he'd eventually learn it doesn't have to be that way because OCD is one of the most treatable mental health conditions once you get the right kind of specialized therapy. OCD needs ERP therapy. That's exposure and response prevention, which is proven to be the most effective treatment. Regular talk therapy isn't recommended and can actually make OCD worse. NOCD is the world's leading OCD treatment provider and all of their licensed therapists specialize in ERP Therapy with NOCD is 100% virtual, covered by insurance for over 138 million Americans and includes support between sessions so you never have to face OCD alone. To learn more about starting OCD therapy with NOCD, go to nocd.com and book a free call with their team. That's n o c d.com support for

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the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test tested against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures this

[Bowen Yang]

is Bowen Yang from Lost Culture Research with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. We all know the feeling when life gets really busy, taking care of yourself can feel impossible. That's why Premier Protein shakes are my go to. They have 30 grams of protein, 160 calories, no added sugar, and they taste amazing. So they're a healthy choice you'll actually want to make. It's not just for fitness, it's for getting after life. Premier Protein powers me to say yes to more Find your favorite [e-mail] that's P R E M I E R protein.com hey everyone, it's Kal Penn.

[Kal Penn]

I'm the host of Irsay The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook project, Hail Mary Massive Sci Fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone, very far from Earth.

[Ray Porter]

I really had to make a decision because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get teary as I'm narrating some of these sections and it's like, okay, yo, yo, yo. Is this indulgent? And I really thought about it. I was like, no. At this point it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it. But there's places in this book that that deeply, emotionally affected me and I left it on the mic. That's great because it served the story. People will say like, oh my God, I cried at the end. It's like, yeah dude, me too.

[Kal Penn]

Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Fishel]

Do you have any funny stories from being a dad to a five year old boy? My I feel like my boys are always I opened email addresses for them when they were first born and every time they say or do something funny, I try to write it in an email to them because the amount of things that come out of their mouth just cracks me up. One of the most recent ones is Adler said to me, mommy, why do you have these lines on your face? And I said, oh, they're called smile lines. I have them because I smile at you all the time. And he goes, no, Hulk angry. Cool, cool. Yeah, that was, that was a nice moment.

[Frankie Muniz]

So yeah, my son is hilarious. Like, and but you know, I know everyone thinks like their kid is like a genius and like, you know, they're the greatest thing ever. But like, I truly think my son is a genius and the greatest thing ever. Like you know, because the things he talks about, the things he says and, you know, like the other day, I don't even know what we're talking about, but, like, he brought up something. I'm like, I don't even. How do you even know what that is?

[Danielle Fishel]

Like, right.

[Frankie Muniz]

It's not something I've ever talked about. It's not something that Paige, my wife, has ever talked about. Like, how do you even, like, does your brain even fathom that at five years, you know, he's almost turns five off the 22nd, and, you know, so I'm always surprised by that. I think the biggest thing is when you realize that they're their own person.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know what I mean?

[Frankie Muniz]

Like, you almost go, like, oh, we're going to get him into this, we're

[Danielle Fishel]

going to do this.

[Frankie Muniz]

And when you realize, like, no, he likes what he likes, he likes the food that he likes, which are not the things that I like. You know what I mean? And, and that's kind of the most interesting thing is, like, kind of seeing him just become his own person. Yeah. You know, I don't know. I love it. I, I, he's, he's so fun. Right now. He wants to be a poop truck driver. Oh, so great.

[Danielle Fishel]

He's into trucks.

[Frankie Muniz]

At the races. At the races. We stay in a bus. You know what I mean? Yeah. And like, a truck has to come to, like, get the poop, clean it out. And he loves it. He thinks it's the greatest thing ever. So I'm trying to transition him into, like, something else, but that's, but for right now, he wants to do.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Frankie Muniz]

Yeah, he's going to have a poop truck company.

[Danielle Fishel]

Hey, the owner of a poop truck company sounds like a market that we just don't know how, what the potential is, you know? Do you think if your son wanted to act, you would be supportive?

[Frankie Muniz]

I think my son would be an incredible actor.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Frankie Muniz]

Personality wise, like, you know, look wise, expression wise. But I would not let him be an actor. I wouldn't. That's one I wouldn't let him do.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Frankie Muniz]

When he's older, if he wanted to do it, great, I'll help, I'll support it. But it's not something that I would, like, push him into now. And not because I have, like, negative experience. Like, my, my experience as a child actor was great, you know, I mean, I know a lot of people have bad stories and things that happened, but, like, I had nothing but positive come from being a child actor, you know what I mean? But I just. I don't know. I feel like it's. For most people, it's a lot of pressure. It's a lot of rejection, which is hard for people to take. And I don't know, it's. It. It's not something that you get to, like. If you want to be a doctor, you can go to school and you can. You can put in the time and you can become a doctor. Right. You can say you want to be an actor and do everything right and be really, really good and never get the opportunity. And I. I feel like it's a little bit of winning the lottery. You know what I mean? At first, you know, especially, like, you know, when you're a kid, because they're probably just picking you because you look like you could be the kid of the parents or whatever. But I don't know. Yeah, I. I don't think I would. I would let him be an actor now. Sorry. Long.

[Danielle Fishel]

Long story short, what age do you show him Agent Cody Banks? Because I feel like it doesn't get much cooler than playing a kid's secret agent in a movie.

[Frankie Muniz]

It's funny. He started to realize, like, because he. You know, he's. He's now used to me being a race car driver.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, right.

[Frankie Muniz]

Like, that's.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's what. He knows you, right?

[Frankie Muniz]

He knows me, like, from when he was born.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Frankie Muniz]

Being on TV in the race car. Right. With a helmet on or being interviewed. So there's been things, like the other day, like, Malcolm was on. On. On. There's a channel called Fuse. I saw it was on. I put it on for a second, and he was like, like what? He. He gets it, but he doesn't. You know what I mean?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Frankie Muniz]

I think it's gonna be interesting to show him things like Cody Banks. I feel like that one, for him to really, truly appreciate, he needs to be at least like, eight. I don't know.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

[Frankie Muniz]

Eight, eight, nine. Is it weird, like, to show your kids your stuff? No. Like, oh, look at daddy.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, I. My kid did ask because he. Similarly, my son really mostly knows me as a podcast host.

[Frankie Muniz]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

So when I would then get recognized, it took him a long time to even notice that any of that was going on. Like, people just come up and talk to me and take a picture with me, and he'd just be like, all right, whatever.

[Frankie Muniz]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

And then eventually he realized, like, how come we're with other parents?

[Frankie Muniz]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, we don't want to take pictures. So he was like, what's that about. And I was like, well, you know, mommy used to be on tv. And he was like, well, I'm going to need to see this. So I played the very first episode of Boy Meets World that Topanga was ever in, and I was 12. And he watched it for about five minutes and he was like, hey, this is boring. Something else. And I was like, right, okay, we'll try again down the road.

[Frankie Muniz]

You know, that's funny. My wife has a weird. Not weird. I understand it. But he's grown up seeing me talk to strangers. People come up to me all the time taking photos, doing this, like just shaking hands. And she's is afraid that he's not going to understand. To not trust, not right.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know, boundaries.

[Frankie Muniz]

Yeah. And so she has a, a weird kind of fine line with that of like, you know, there's times where like people ask for a picture and if he's with me, he like poses in the picture and she's like, I don't want him in the photos. You know, like he doesn't understand it. You know what I mean? It's a, it's a, it's a. Interesting thing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. We don't post our kids on social media. And so if that. Because that has occasionally happened too, where someone, I'll take a picture and one of my kids wants to in it and I usually just will say, you know, respectfully, we don't post the kids on social media. So if you're going to post it, just can you put an emoji over his face or crop his face out? And most people are very understanding. But that's a good point that I hadn't really thought of is that, yeah. When people stop you in the middle of the mall and then you have a five minute conversation with them, your kid's going to get the impression that anyone who stops and talks to me.

[Frankie Muniz]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

I owe it to them to be polite.

[Frankie Muniz]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Interesting boundary.

[Frankie Muniz]

It is. It's a. Yeah. Trying to, trying to navigate that I think is, is definitely the most interesting thing. And also like, you know, you look at. We live a pretty unusual life, right. You know, traveling around, living in a bus, racing cars, doing show. Whatever it is. Right. Going, you know, things get delivered to our house all the time, you know, like, and just trying to go like, wait, he thinks that all this is normal. Like it's our normal, but like it's. I hope he doesn't expect it. I hope it doesn't. You know what I mean? Like, yes, you know, it's, it's Hard. But like, how do you manage that? Like, how do you. It's. It, you know, you're always, I'm always constantly questioning, like, if I'm. If we're doing it right, you know? You know, I don't know.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's. It. One of the joys of, of having the things that maybe our family didn't have to give to us as kids is being able to provide those things for your kids. And then on the other hand, I'm like, I don't know that it's good that you know that this is, this is what vacations could be like. There was such a beautiful time to being a kid when things were more simple.

[Frankie Muniz]

Oh yeah. I mean, I, I was in the woods, like with my, you know, beat up bike I got at goodwill for like $4, you know, for like 10 years. Like, you know what I mean? The other day, and I was like, how does M have four bikes? A forklift, a motorcycle?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Frankie Muniz]

You know, like, I'm like, what are we doing? Yeah, we didn't buy it all. They just send it. You know.

[Danielle Fishel]

One other question I have for you because you have such a smart business mind. How did you get into purchasing parking garages when you were younger? I want, because I feel like this, that's a level of genius that I wanted. Like, what are you currently into? Just asking for a friend. What are you into now?

[Frankie Muniz]

Well, I would be lying if I told you a lot of the business decisions I made were like, really well thought out.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Frankie Muniz]

They were more just like, sure, I think it's a good idea. The parking lot thing. I used to go to every single LA Clippers game in downtown la. And you know, before it was really built up, there was a lot of just big open lots and, you know, the parking was $10, 15 bucks, whatever it was. And, and I remember thinking at like 17 or 18, when I was going to the games, and I was like, yo, whoever owns this is a genius because you pay one person to take cash. You know what I mean? There's no maintenance, there's. There's nothing. Maybe every once in a while you have to paint the lines, you know what I mean? I was like, this is just such a good idea. So I had purchased a few down there, around that area and obviously like, you know, did really, really well, but it was almost on accident, you know what I mean? Like, that's kind of how even when I was like buying, I bought a lot of houses and sold a lot of houses, people knew me. I was like, oh, you're a real estate guy. I'm like, no, I just went into an open house and thought this house was cool and I bought it. And like, some I lost a lot of money on and some I made money on. But like, I don't know, it wasn't like, thought out. So yeah, I'd be lying if I told you. Like, I, I'm like this savvy business guy who like, just looked for the next greatest thing and, and acts on it. I just kind of act on a whim, to be honest.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think you need to give yourself more credit, because I do. I've noticed the theme through all the different things in your life is that you feel as though you, like, tripped and fall. You fell into opportunities where then you worked really hard and then were successful at it. But I feel like some of this is intuition and instinct. I think maybe learning to trust yourself.

[Frankie Muniz]

But what I'd never, I never get to talk about and don't talk about is I've had a lot of things fail miserably.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Frankie Muniz]

We never hear those stories. So I also know the other half of my life that doesn't get get right. Credit or does it get publicity? So I, you know, when I, you know, there's a lot of great, but there's a lot of bad too. You know what I mean?

[Danielle Fishel]

So can we talk about one of those failures?

[Frankie Muniz]

Well, I look at the. No, I look at the things that were, like, great, and I go, like, those are the things I wasn't even trying at. You know what I mean?

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Frankie Muniz]

And the things that I thought were going to be great, like, I lost a lot of money. You know, I lost everything there. You know what I mean?

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Frankie Muniz]

So, you know, I, I, I, I don't want people to think that I have this crazy, like I've gotten lucky in certain areas. I, I really, truly believe I have. And I've made some good decisions, but like I said, I've also made some bad ones.

[Danielle Fishel]

There's still some real risk there.

[Frankie Muniz]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, Frankie, thank you so much for being here with me. I want you all to know you can watch Malcolm in the Middle. Life still unfair on Hulu and Disney starting April 10th. And just Google him for car racing details because it is the very first thing that comes up. Frankie, than for being here. This was a lot of fun. Whenever you write a memoir, I will be the very first person in line.

[Frankie Muniz]

Perfect. All right. We'll see. 20 years or so.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, great. 20 years, I'll give you that.

[Frankie Muniz]

I only got the first couple chapters done right now.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's. That's a good way to think. I like that.

[Frankie Muniz]

I'll see you later.

[Danielle Fishel]

See you later. Bye. Teen Beat is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fishel, executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, executive in charge of production production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor Tara Subaksh. The theme song is by Mark Hoppas. Yes, that Mark Hoppas. Follow us on Instagram eenbeatpod.

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I got it.

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[Danielle Fishel]

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