Frankie Muniz says TV dad Bryan Cranston 'still reaches out to me every couple weeks, checks in on me'

Muniz says his "Malcolm in the Middle" dad "became like a father figure to me" off screen too.

Frankie Muniz is still stuck in the middle with Bryan Cranston after all these years.

"I started working with him when I was 11, 12 years old," Muniz said of his Malcolm in the Middle dad on a recent episode of the Inside of You podcast with Michael Rosenbaum. "He really became like a father figure to me. And then even still to this day, you know, he's essentially like a Hollywood god at this point. You know what I mean? Like he's done incredible films, incredible shows, won tons of awards. Like he's literally It."

Though Muniz has largely given up acting for professional stock car racing, and Cranston has, as Muniz put it, become a "Hollywood god," their bond remains. "He still reaches out to me every couple of weeks, check in on me," Muniz revealed. "He really cares about what I'm doing, comes to the races, if my band was playing, came to shows. I mean, he's such an inspiration, and like I said, that's what I strive to be that for someone else in the future."

Muniz and Cranston were joined by Jane Kaczmarek, Christopher Kennedy Masterson, Justin Berfield, and Erik Per Sullivan across all six seasons of Malcolm in the Middle, spanning from 2000 to 2006. The series followed an introverted boy genius (Muniz), his exasperated mother (Kaczmarek), and devoted father (Cranston) through all manner of wild gags and misbegotten schemes. The popularity of the series launched Muniz's career and elevated Cranston from supporting star veteran to TV royalty, a status he cemented on the award-winning drama Breaking Bad.

Car racing was a passion of Muniz's since his early days on Malcolm, however, and after the series bowed, acting immediately took a backseat to his tarmac dreams. He signed his first contract with a major racing team in 2008, and upgraded to full-time NASCAR driver this year.

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

He still acts occasionally, appearing in episodes of Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens last year and New Amsterdam the year prior. But when asked what kind of story it would take for him to fully pivot back to entertainment, he responded, "I want to see where Malcolm and his family are. I think it would be so fun, you know, 20 years later to see where everybody is. That's what I would love to do again."

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Muniz still says Cranston was the MVP of the family sitcom, which took the groundbreaking aesthetic leap of doing without a laugh track. "He was the most incredible person because he showed up every day on set and gave it 100%," he said. "He was so nice to everybody and you never ever saw him wanting to leave... he took advantage of that opportunity and he did his best work. So I've always used that as an inspiration."

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

In 2022, showrunner Linwood Boomer told Entertainment Weekly that "we're talking about" a reunion or reboot, which "would be fun if we get the right idea." Boomer candidly shared that "it would be going much faster if everyone wasn't so annoying."

Last year, Cranston confirmed that "Boomer is really considering it," and "we're all onboard. All the actors said, 'Well, we'd love to see each other again, for those very same reasons.' But I, too, want it to be a good reason. I don't need a job. I don't want to just be busy. But I love to work, and I would love to reunite with that cast and that crew, and tell those stories in that character again."