They say everyone has a price, but apparently not even ‘buckets of money’ could persuade Erik Per Sullivan to return to Malcolm in the Middle.
American sitcom Malcolm in the Middle first aired on Fox between 2000 and 2006. It had a hugely successful run for seven seasons with 151 episodes, during which time it scored 33 Emmy nominations and seven Golden Globe noms.
Then, after almost two decades, a revival was announced in late 2024, with Frankie Muniz, Bryan Cranston, and Jane Kaczmarek reprising their roles of Malcolm, Hal, and Lois, respectively.
Ahead of its release on April 10, however, it’s been confirmed that the reboot will not see Sullivan return, despite the show’s best efforts.
The actor originally played Dewey, Malcolm’s younger brother, a role that Caleb Ellsworth-Clark took over after the star retired in 2010.
Still today, the now 34-year-old is resisting attempts to pull him away from his studies in literature at Harvard University.
In an interview with The Guardian, Kaczmarek, 70, aka matriarch Lois and Sullivan’s on-screen mother, said the former actor is ‘studying Dickens and is an incredible student’.
‘They offered him buckets of money to come back, and he just said, “No thank you”,’ she revealed.
Also sharing an insight into Sullivan’s life away from the camera these days, Breaking Bad star Cranston, also 70, previously shared his reaction to the reboot being green-lit.
‘I talked to Erik, and I said, “Hey, we got the show! It’s going to come back,’ he recalled. ‘He goes, “Oh, that’s fantastic!”
‘And I go, “Yeah, so we’re looking forward to having you back.”
‘He goes, “Oh, no, no, I don’t want to do it. But it’s fantastic”.’
Cranston proceeded to heap praise on his former co-star as he pursued his master’s degree, calling him ‘really, really smart’.
‘He said, “Oh God, no, I haven’t acted since I was nine or something. So I’m not into it”.’
While Kaczmarek and Cranston still appear to be in contact with Sullivan, the same can’t be said for his TV brother, Muniz.
Asked previously about what his former on-screen sibling is doing now, he admitted: ‘To be honest, I don’t know what he’s up to.
‘I hate to say that because I’ve talked to him a few times since the show ended.’
He added that he had ‘talked to his parents a lot’ when he was in a band, having performed in the city where Sullivan lives – but he ‘couldn’t make it’.
‘But one thing I know, some actors or some people just got to do it when they were a kid, and then they wanted to experience other things and kind of live a more normal life out of the spotlight.
‘I think that’s what he wanted to do, so good for him.’
Muniz, 40, has since reiterated to The Post that the cast ‘completely respect’ Sullivan’s choice not to return, hoping fans won’t be ‘too upset’ that he isn’t there.
Sullivan is the only cast member from the original ensemble to be recast for the upcoming four-episode revival, officially titled Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair.
Ellsworth-Clark will continue to play Dewey from here on out, Variety has reported.
In the upcoming series, after managing to shield himself (and his daughter) from his family for over a decade, Malcolm is pulled back into the drama when parents Hal and Lois demand his presence at their 40th wedding anniversary celebrations.
Initially, the project had been pitched as a two-hour movie before it was turned into four 30-minute episodes for Hulu.
Alongside Muniz as the titular lead, Christopher Kennedy Masterson and Justin Berfield also reprise their roles as his brothers, Francis and Reese. Emy Coligado reappears as Francis’s wife, Piama Tananahaakna.
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As for newcomers, Life’s Still Unfair will introduce Anthony Timpano and Vaughan Murrae as the youngest siblings, Jamie and Kelly, born after the original series finale, as well as Keeley Karsten as Malcolm’s daughter, Leah, and Kiana Madeira as his girlfriend, Tristan.
There’s palpable hype surrounding the show’s return, with Cranston himself declaring that ‘comedy is essential right now’.
‘Because it’s a break from the bombardment of non-stop information,’ he told The Guardian this year.
‘People who have the news on 24 hours a day in their homes, I don’t think they realise the damage they’re doing. You might as well make a house full of asbestos or just have radiation constantly emitting through your house.’
Life’s Still Unfair will premiere on Hulu on April 10.
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