Shirley Temple became an ambassador. Macaulay Culkin wrote a novel. Frankie Muniz is going to race cars.
Faced with the end of his own child-star run, Muniz is set to debut as a driver in the Formula BMW USA series just days after Fox airs the May 14 series finale of Malcolm in the Middle, his prime-time vehicle of the past six years.
Calling the move to motor racing an "incredible opportunity," Muniz formally announced his sporting intentions last month. The story gained traction last weekend when Muniz, competing in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race held in conjunction with the Grand Prix of Long Beach, made clear he considered the track his new full-time job.
"You can't really juggle both [acting and racing] because if you do, you just don't get enough time in the car," Muniz told the Associated Press.
On Monday, Muniz's publicist confirmed the actor has no current film commitments. Malcolm in the Middle wrapped production Mar. 16 after seven seasons.
Muniz's new boss said the on-hiatus actor has a solid shot at starring in an event such as the Grand Prix of Long Beach as soon as 2008.
"He's the got the basic ingredients: He's got intelligence and courage," said Eric Jensen, president of Jensen MotorSport, for whom Muniz has committed to professionally race for two years.
"It's also about having balls," Jensen said. "You can't have fear when you're out there."
And Muniz, Jensen said, doesn't have fear.
A noted car collector, including the VW Jetta from The Fast and the Furious, Muniz was first among all celebrity comers in the 2005 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. Last Saturday, Muniz, competing as a pro for the first time, finished 11th overall.
Patrick Dempsey, another actor with pro racing credentials, placed sixth overall.
Jensen, for one, didn't sound concerned that Muniz's weekend lacked for a checkered flag.
"I've had him enough days to know what I've got," Jensen said Monday. "He's still a project. [And] car racing is a tough sport."
That said, Jensen said the Formula BMW series is the perfect place for Muniz to launch his racing career. He described it as a circuit primarily for "junior level guys," like Muniz, "who are actually talented."
Speeds in the cars, that to the untrained eye look like the ones that can be found zipping around at the Indianapolis 500, top out at about 125 mph. Among his fellow Formula BMW drivers, many of them teenagers, Jensen said, Muniz, at 20, will be the second oldest competitor.
In an interview distributed last month by Scripps Howard News Service, Muniz sounded very much like a man at a crossroads.
"It's time to start a new chapter, to start fresh," Muniz said. "I guess after Malcolm, we'll see what that means."
In the interview, Muniz said he intended to move from Hollywood to New Orleans, home of his fiancée, Jamie Gandy--"Ninety percent of the people who come up to me say I am making a mistake. They say I should not get married. I should wait. Ninety percent of the people tell me I am going to fail."
Critics were nearly as unkind to Muniz in their reviews of his latest movie, the teen horror flick Stay Alive.
In 2003, Muniz became one of Hollywood's top paid teen actors when he scored a reported $2 million to star in Agent Cody Banks. A less successful 2004 sequel, Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, followed. In 2005, he lent his voice to the animated comedy Racing Stripes.
With his teen stardom and his TV show both wrapped, Muniz told the Associated Press that it might be "easier" for him to get back into acting "when I'm 23, 24, and be an adult and start fresh." Muniz's acting career began when he was 8.
As a pro race-car driver, Muniz is set to debut May 19-21 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the first of seven Formula BMW events.
Next year, the plan is for Muniz to move up to the Champ Car Atlantic series, where the cars can reach speeds of 175 mph.
Will Muniz one day be known as a race-car driver who used to be a Hollywood child star?
Said Jensen: "That's a question only time will tell."