Frankie Muniz is opening up about his relationship with drugs and alcohol.
The 38-year-old former child actor, who is now a racecar driver, appeared on Mayim Bialik podcast Breakdown where he said that despite growing up famous, he never got into the Hollywood social scene.
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“Were you raised in a tradition that did not drink?” Mayim, 48, asked.
“Every family member in my family drinks. And that’s what they do for fun,” Frankie answered with a laugh.
“I tried to figure out why I didn’t, because I don’t have a reason. It wasn’t, like, a religion,” Frankie continued, adding that it likely goes back to his “hatred towards time.”
“When I was 15, 16 years old, I felt like I was so old. I had experienced so much,” Frankie explained about avoiding the young Hollywood party scene. “And I had experienced a lot in my life in comparison to most 15 or 16 year olds, but even though I was in the entertainment business, I never saw it, meaning the drug use, any of that stuff. I somehow stayed away. I just went to the set and did my thing.”
“I grew up thinking the only people who smoked pot were criminals…on episodes of Cops,” Frankie added with a laugh. “Now I talk to my dad about it and my mom and they’re like, ‘We smoked pot every single day, you just didn’t know.’”
He continued, “In my mind, I felt like I had made it so long without it, I was like, ‘Well, I’m not going to start now, even though I was only 18.’”
Frankie also recalled people’s reactions when he would turn down alcohol, which has helped him continue to abstain.
“I couldn’t believe everyone’s reactions when I said I don’t drink. ‘Oh, we’re at a club, we have a bottle. You want a drink?’ ‘No, I don’t drink. I’m good with water,’” Frankie said. “Everyone was either shocked or appalled that I didn’t drink. Or they’d be like, ‘Wow, that’s so strong of you.’”
“I was always kind of like, ‘It’s so weird that people have such a strong reaction to me not drinking,’” he continued. “Like, who cares? I don’t care what you do. Why do you care so much about me?’ I don’t know if I made a conscious decision, but it just stuck with me that I was never gonna drink or do anything.”
“But now I’m 38 and I think I’m going to start tonight. Only kidding,” Frankie joked.
In an interview from earlier this year, Frankie talked about becoming a full-time racecar driver and shared some of his career goals.
