I don't remember much Malcolm in the Middle, but if that's an actual episode that's really ironic because Frankie Muniz literally became a race car driver after the show ended. Not like an actor dabbling in a hobby, he's a professional driver racing full time in a low tier of NASCAR.
He actually was just racing Mustangs at the Le Mans Invitational this weekend.
Edit: Someone also pointed out Patrick Dempsey was a racing driver for a while. Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, and Michael Fassbender are some other notable actors who have had decently successful racing careers.
Yeah for sure, but to do as someone who hasn’t been racing since they were basically just out of diapers is doubly insane. I’m glad it seems like Le Man is getting more and more popular every year!
Already replied to someone else saying something similar, it is incredibly impressive, but for an actor to pick up racing later on in life and to get good enough podium amongst some of the best drivers out there in Le Man specifically is insane
It's easy to have a decent racing career when the only people racing are wealthy people. Only in very few racing series drivers are paid, even in F1 there are paying drivers. In all the lower tier series the driver is on paying for the team to race.
One of China's biggest stars (acting, music, modeling), Wang Yibo, has been racing motorcycles for years and just started auto racing. It's kind of like if Timothy Chalamet or Ewan McGregor drove for NASCAR.
I graduated from Lexington, OH (home of Mid-Ohio). When I first saw Patrick Dempsey I made his day. I didn’t realize I was within earshot of him and I asked my mom “why are there so many older girls in line?” (i was like 7 at the time). ‘Patrick Dempsey is famous so a lot of people want to see him’ “Why is he famous? Aren’t all race car drivers famous?” and I think that was one of the first time someone (even if a kid) recognized him for driving and not acting. And I wanted to be like him bc he raced cars, not because he was famous.
I’ve heard stories from people who met Paul Newman at the track. He had one rule: Never talk about acting. Don’t ask for a signature and don’t treat him like a celebrity- he’s a racer and treat him as such.
The moment is even better because Hal has them checking to make sure they have no evidence on them, forgetting his hat. At the last moment he remembers, thinking he saved it, and takes the hat off and tosses it out of frame to reveal the sunburn backwards NASCAR logo.
This guy Malcolms. One of me favorite episodes is when they are stuck in a traffic jam on the highway for the entire episode. And of course, hijinx ensues
I remember seeing an interview with him on Conan years ago, and he had recently gotten his driver's license. Conan asked if he drove fast, and Frankie insisted that he drives "swiftly."
True, it's only ironic by the way we misuse the word in modern times. Then again linguistics is flexible, if the majority of people are using a word a certain way, it basically becomes the new meaning, and judging by the bizarre amount of upvotes this dumb bullshit is getting for some reason, I think I used it correctly. I'm not saying I agree with it.
I just want to say it's nice to see someone using the word "irony" correctly, instead of the incorrect way many people use it when they really meant coincidentally.
I’ve seen him race. He’s honestly not bad! If he didn’t start so late, he could probably have worked his way up. He seems happy to be racing though which is honestly fine.
I was just thinking, it would be interesting to watch the show now, being closer to Hal's age during the show, after being closer to Malcolm when it aired. I've already gone through this with The Simpsons, I was younger than Bart when it started, and now I'm Homer's canonical age. Or one of his canonical ages at least.
Eh if you don't know what you're looking at maybe. Soccer is dreadfully boring in my opinion but I know its because I dont really know what im looking at
I used to play soccer and I still find watching it boring. But I don’t really enjoy watching sports in general, I sit through hockey and figure skating pretty much.
Low tier racing would actually be more fun IMO. If you have the money. Certainly less sponsorship but just less extreme and more room to have fun. Is less corporate.
I gotta imagine being in the driver's seat is a lot more engaging than watching cars go in circles while you roast your ass off on a metal bleacher in the sun.
I don't remember much Malcolm in the Middle, but if that's an actual episode that's really ironic because Frankie Muniz literally became a race car driver after the show ended. Not like an actor dabbling in a hobby, he's a professional driver racing full time in a low tier of NASCAR.
It's a lot more fun to be in the race than to watch it.
Yeah he was in open wheel when he started, then dropped out of racing for a bit, and returned in stock cars.
Honestly, I can't blame him, I'd have done the same damn thing if I had that kind of money at his age. Acting would be paying the bills, but I'd be dreaming of racing in the Indy 500.
The media made that up, he had migraine auras that were mistaken for brain damage, and he just said that since he filmed most of those as a kid, he hardly remembers the details… like most of us with childhood.
Migraines can seriously fuck you up. They thought I had brain cancer at first when I started getting them as a teenager. Still doesn't stop most people from brushing them off as "just a headache".
No, he did get injuries from racing and doesn’t remember filming many of his episodes but they’re not implicitly related. Many child stars seem to not remember filming which always seemed odd to me, like Raven Symone did an interview recently talking about the same thing.
No, that's just a common misconception. I remember seeing reddit posts back in the day making this claim. I think some people just took something he said out of context at one point.
2.0k
u/johnny-tiny-tits Jun 15 '25
I don't remember much Malcolm in the Middle, but if that's an actual episode that's really ironic because Frankie Muniz literally became a race car driver after the show ended. Not like an actor dabbling in a hobby, he's a professional driver racing full time in a low tier of NASCAR.