Frankie Muniz says he feels 'a little bit sad' looking back at sacrifices his family made for his acting career

"I'm happy that I have people in my life like that, but it's just a crazy thought that without that support, probably none of that happens," he said.

Frankie Muniz is finding himself in the middle of some reflection on the price of child stardom.

As he's gotten older, the Malcolm in the Middle star realized the cost his career had on his family growing up, he told Michael Rosenbaum in the latest episode of the Inside of You podcast.

Before he got his big break on the long-running sitcom, for instance, the actor's parents got a divorce, and he decided to live with his mom in New Jersey. His sister initially lived with their dad, but eventually she too moved in with Muniz and their mother — right before he landed the role of Malcolm and they had to move again, causing a massive shakeup in his family structure.

"She finally moved up," he said of his sister, adding, "and it wasn't like a month later that I got Malcolm, and we moved to LA. And she's like, you're not moving. So she stayed with my grandparents in New Jersey. We moved to LA. And so it's kind of this really weird dynamic to look at now."

He continued, "It actually makes me a little bit sad to realize that my mom and I or me following my dream and the things that I got to do affected every single member of my family. Right?"

The actor and race car driver, who is now 38, would go on to earn an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award nods for Malcolm in the Middle. He became one of the most bankable teen stars of the aughts, with film roles including Deuces Wild (2002), Big Fat Liar (2002), Agent Cody Banks (2003), and Racing Stripes (2005).

Related: Frankie Muniz recalls walking off Malcolm in the Middle for 2 episodes

He didn't think much about how everything affected his family at the time, but within the last year, Muniz admitted "it was the first time I thought about the past enough to think about the sacrifice that people made, and it made me really sad."

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Muniz specifically shouted out his sister, and his grandparents for stepping in to raise her, as specific examples. "The fact that they were so willing to help out and do whatever they could do for us to be available to go where I needed to go to do what I needed to do. You know, it's a crazy thought, but, it's a realization I actually had this year," he said.

Muniz said he and his sister have since talked it out, and at the end of the day, he has a positive takeaway from it all, telling Rosenbaum, "I mean, I'm happy that I have people in my life like that, but it's just a crazy thought that without that support, probably none of that happens. You know what I mean? And, it's a wild, wild thought."

Related: Bryan Cranston is 'thrilled at the prospect' of a Malcolm in the Middle reunion

Elsewhere on the podcast, Muniz and Rosenbaum discuss his new racing career and the different misconceptions and dangers that come with the sport, surprises during the making of Malcolm in the Middle, how he’s masked the low points throughout his life, the realities of what’s asked of child actors, and more.