In the sf thriller Renner, Frankie Muniz plays a tech genius who uses an AI system to deal with social anxiety.

If you’ve heard the name Frankie Muniz in recent years, chances are you’re a fan of professional racing. That’s how the former Malcolm in the Middle star has been spending most of his time these days — speeding around a racetrack in a Ford stock car.

After taking a seven-year hiatus from lead roles in movies, Muniz has returned to the spotlight in the sci-fi thriller Renner. In the film, he plays the title character, a tech genius who’s designed an AI system that helps him stay productive and deal with his social anxiety. Things get twisted up, however, when his crush (Violett Beane) comes over for dinner with her uninvited moody brother (Taylor Gray).

During a recent interview with the Current, Muniz, 39, discussed his return to acting and the emotional intensity he had to tap into for the role. He also talked about how he could use AI in his real life to feel less stressed.

Renner is currently available on VOD platforms.

It’s been a few years since you’ve taken on the lead role in a feature film. What was it about Renner that made you come back to it?

When [director] Robert [Rippberger] sent me the script, and I read it, I just couldn’t put it down. I had to finish it. I had to know what was going to happen. It definitely went in a direction I was not expecting. That was really exciting as an actor; getting to play a character who is very different from anything I’ve ever done.

Were you looking for something like that?

I wasn’t actively looking for darker roles or anything like that. But I thought it’d be a lot of fun to play this character. It also made me really nervous. I’ve been doing acting [recently], but not tons. I’ve been doing things here and there. I remember showing up on the set in the first days and being like, “Oh, shoot. What did I get myself into? This is serious.”

Were you happy with your performance since you had been away for a few years?

I knew it would be a challenge to get all the emotions out, but I am very happy with how it turned out. I’m not one who usually looks at my acting and goes, “Yeah, I did good.” I always think I could do better. There wasn’t an easy day for me as an actor filming this movie, but I remember going home every day and being like, “That is what I truly think is the best I could have done.” I did what I wanted to do, and that felt really good. So, I was happy when I watched the movie and only had a few critiques of myself.

Talk about your experience performing what I’m assuming was your most challenging scene, which was delivering a very long monologue.

That scene was crazy because it’s me literally talking forever. It goes from this loving and nice chat with another character to anger and sadness and every emotion. We did that scene on the second to last day of filming. I’d already kind of experienced all these other emotions. I had a really weird experience on this movie where, oddly, it was hard for me to distinguish the emotions I had on camera and off camera. I’m not dealing with any of the stuff that Renner was dealing with, but it brought things out of me. It brought personal thoughts out of me that I haven’t thought of.

Was it easy to stay in that mindset?

It was easy to stay in that mindset. After filming these intense scenes, I’d go back to where I was staying, and it was very dingy and sad. The lighting was not good. I would kind of stay in that mode. I think it worked great for the film. I remember calling my wife and going, “I’m having a hard time distinguishing what’s real and what’s not real.” She’s like, “Should I be worried?”

If you had the type of AI that your character designs in this film in your own life, how would you program it? What do you need to be motivated to do?

I don’t need help being motivated to do anything. I’m a very motivated person. I would say one thing I would need help with is scheduling and being less stressed. I’m a very high-stress person, but that’s partly because I’ve always got so much going on. So, I would have [the AI] relax me when I have time to relax; maybe like a sleep therapist that would help me fall asleep and keep me asleep. That’s what I need, for sure.

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This article appears in Mar 19 – Apr 1, 2025.