Frankie Muniz Boy Genius by Nancy Krulik

Author:Nancy Krulik
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2000-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

Frankie and the Fans

For a long time Frankie didn’t tell the kids he went to school with about his acting career. He didn’t think they would believe him. As he explained to Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, “They would’ve said, ‘You’re an actor? Oh, sure.’”

But when he began making commercials and eventually got that guest-starring role on Spin City, it was hard for Frankie to keep his career top secret. After all, kids may not watch made-for-TV movies, but they sure tune in to the sitcoms. Lots of Frankie’s peers actually saw him on Spin City. Boy, were they surprised!

But Spin City didn’t turn Frankie into a star. Sure, his neighbors were excited to see him on TV, but it wasn’t like perfect strangers were asking him for autographs or anything.

That all changed when My Dog Skip came out in theaters and the massive Malcolm in the Middle ad campaign hit the airwaves. Frankie’s face seemed to be everywhere. He began to notice that people were pointing at him.

Frankie recalls the first time he realized that perfect strangers were recognizing him on the street. It was not long after Malcolm had debuted on TV.

“I was walking in [New York] city coming from a play, and this guy says, ‘Hey, that’s the kid from that show.’ People were staring at me. I was like, ‘Mom, what’s going on?’”

At first fame was tough to adjust to. Frankie had never gone into acting for the recognition. “I just thought about the acting in the beginning,” he insists. But as his star grew brighter, Frankie had to accept that people would stare at him and ask him for his autograph. He knew he’d have to make personal appearances, and take the time to go online with the fans. (Frankie especially likes being the guest for an online chat: “It’s fun to get interviewed by more than one person! I can see what my fans want to know about me,” he explains.) It all comes with the territory when you’re a star.

Still, the adjustment wasn’t easy. Imagine what it would feel like if you could no longer go to the mall, or the movies, or even the supermarket without people staring and pointing at you.

Many performers say that being a TV star is even tougher than being a movie star when it comes to fan attention. People tend to put movie stars up on a pedestal. If they do talk to them at all, it’s with a kind of worshipful reverence. But TV stars come into your living room week after week. o a lot of fans, that creates a very different sense of familiarity. TV stars sort of feel like one of the family. So it’s not unusual for fans of TV actors to walk right up to them and give them their opinions on everything from what their character did on last night’s episode, to whether or not they like the actor’s new hairstyle. Fans can be brutally honest. Some actors who

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