“Malcolm in the Middle” star Frankie Muniz says the behavior of “certain people” made him “walk off the hit sitcom for two episodes.
The actor-turned-race car driver pointed to cast and crew members who “walked on pins and needles” to accommodate those individuals as pushing him to the breaking point.
“There were two episodes I’m not in. I walked off the set,” the “Agent Cody Banks” star recalled on the Australian version of “I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!” Monday, according to News.com.au.
“Everyone was so afraid to stand up when certain people were controlling or rude or disrespectful.”
Muniz did not name which colleagues had fostered the difficult work environment, but noted he was “so mortified by seeing people afraid to stand up for themselves,” the “Big Fat Liar” star has no regrets about the move.
“I didn’t care if they told me I was never going back, because it was worth it to me. It helped that the show was based around me,” said Muniz, who scored an Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe nominations for the titular role.
Prior to his season of “I’m a Celebrity,” Muniz told News.com.au that he “never felt like I fully fit in the Hollywood world, even though I was in the world.
“I was there, and I was like, ‘How am I here?’” he said of his “impostor syndrome.”
Co-starring Bryan Cranston as patriarch Hal, “Malcolm in the Middle” aired on Fox from 2000 to 2006, during which time it racked up 7 Emmys.
