Frankie Muniz Reveals How His Childhood Crush on Amanda Bynes Led Him to Turn Down SNL Host Gig

Frankie Muniz’s priorities have changed a little since he was a teenager.

The Malcolm in the Middle alum, 39, reflected on his success as a child actor in the early 2000s during a recent appearance on the Lightweights Podcast with Joe Vulpis. Thinking back to when he moved to New York to work with a new agent at the time, Muniz revealed that he had just one request — to work with Amanda Bynes.

“I was like, ‘I want to be on All That. I want to be on The Amanda Show,’” he recalled. “Because I had a huge crush on Amanda Bynes as a kid, but I thought that those were the funniest, most amazing shows.”

“That was my dream, I wanted to be on All That with Amanda Bynes and all them,” he continued.

Within a year, Muniz found himself with an opportunity to get his foot in the door with Bynes.

“I got asked to co-host the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards April of 2000,” he explained. “And Amanda Bynes was one of the other co-hosts. And I was like, ‘I’m gonna meet Amanda Bynes, right?’ It’s this huge deal. So I’m so excited, right? I’m like, this is my chance, you know?”

Muniz said he couldn’t wait to share a stage with the actress, so when his mom got a call offering him a hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, the then-14-year-old wasn’t interested.

“[My mom] goes, ‘You got asked to host Saturday Night Live,’ and I’m like, ‘What’s that?’” he admitted. “And she’s like, ‘It’s huge. You’ll be one of the youngest people ever [to host], it’s this big deal. Blah blah blah.’ I’m like, ‘When?’ She’s like, ‘April 3rd.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, hell no! I am going to the Kids Choice Awards. I don’t care. I’m meeting Amanda Bynes at the Kids Choice Awards.’”

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Despite his mom’s best efforts to persuade him to choose the iconic sketch-comedy series and over a week of nudging from SNL, Muniz said he wouldn’t budge.

“I was like, ‘No, no, no. I don’t back out of obligation,’” he remembered saying. “‘I committed to it, I’m not going to back out of the kitchen. They’ve been airing my commercial saying I’m going to be co-hosting.’”

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Ultimately, Muniz got his wish and was able to meet Bynes (although she wasn’t actually a co-host) when he presented her with an award for Favorite TV Actress.

That wasn’t the last time the two crossed paths. In 2002, they co-starred alongside Paul Giamatti in the comedy film Big Fat Liar, which is now streaming on Prime Video.