“Malcolm in the Middle” star Erik Per Sullivan rejected ‘buckets of money’ for revival to do this instead
“Malcolm in the Middle” star Erik Per Sullivan rejected ‘buckets of money’ for revival to do this instead
Sharareh DruryMon, April 6, 2026 at 5:43 PM UTC
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Erik Per Sullivan as Dewey on the original 'Malcolm in the Middle'Credit: 20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett
When the Malcolm in the Middle revival premieres this April, there'll be one noticeable difference for the dysfunctional TV family.
Bryan Cranston, Jane Kaczmarek, Frankie Muniz, Christopher Masterson, and Justin Berfield are all set to return for the four-episode Disney+ series, titled Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair, which begins streaming April 10. However, Erik Per Sullivan, who played youngest son Dewey, will be replaced by Caleb Ellsworth-Clark.
Kaczmarek, who plays Malcolm’s mother Lois, told The Guardian that Sullivan was offered a good sum to return, but opted to stick to his current plans — studying for a master's degree at Harvard.
"He’s studying Dickens and is an incredible student," Kaczmarek said of Sullivan. "They offered him buckets of money to come back, and he just said: 'No thank you'."
The cast of 'Malcolm in the Middle' in 2000.Credit: Kevin Winter/ImageDirect/Getty
Cranston, who plays patriarch Hal on the show, recently shared on an episode of the Fly on the Wall podcast how he had reached out to Sullivan when the revival got the green light after nearly two decades off the air.
"I talked to Erik and I said, 'Hey, we got the show! It's going to come back.' 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.'"
"He's actually going to Harvard," Cranston added. "He's really, really smart, and he's getting his master's at Harvard right now. He said, 'Oh God, no, I haven't acted since I was 9 or something. So I'm not into it.'"
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Malcolm in the Middle ran from 2000 to 2006 on Fox, landing seven Emmys while boosting the careers of Muniz, Cranston, and Kaczmarek. After fans pushed for years for some form of reboot to take place, Cranston's consistent prodding of Emmy-winning creator and executive producer Linwood Boomer helped make it happen.
"I've been wanting to do this for years, but it needed to be for a good reason," Cranston told Entertainment Weekly. "The story needed to be there — otherwise we'd just be hanging out in someone's house."
"It started out as nudging," Boomer shared. "Then built into pestering, and then finally tipped over into bullying."
Boomer's wife, Tracy Katsky Boomer, whom he met on the set of the original series and who serves as an executive producer on the revival, supported Cranston's pushing and ultimately came up with the reason why Malcolm and his wacky family should return to the screen: Malcolm is raising a daughter who is just like him.
Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair arrives on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ on April 10.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
